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E,  F.  BONAVENTURE 


HAS  JUST  ISSUED  AND  WILL  MAIL  OX  APPLICATION 

I.  CATALOGUE  OF  STANDARD  AND 
INTERESTING  BOOKS. 

II.  CATALOGUE  OF  BOOKS  OF  THE 
HIGHEST  RARITY  WITH  FAC 
SIMILES  OF  BINDINGS. 

III.  CATALOGUE  OF  ETCHINGS  AND 
ENGRAVINGS,  ALSO  OF  SETS 
OF  PRINTS  FOR  EXTRA  IL 
LUSTRATION. 


THE  SAN  CARLO  ART  ROOMS, 

Broadway  and  3ist  Street, 
NEW   YORK. 


MR.  TOWNSEND'S  WORKS 

FOR    SALE    (POST    FREE) 

BY 

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TALES    OF    THE    CHESAPEAKE, 

with  Portrait,  75  cents 

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2^ 


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t 


"NEW  YORK 


GAPLAND. 


"  The  nearest  mountain  air  to  the  City  of  Washington  is 
to  be  found  on  the  Hagerstown  branch  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad  at  Crampton's  Gap,  which  is  but  one  mile  from  the 
post  office  and  railway  station  of  Claggetts,  Washington  County, 
Maryland.  The  railway  station  is  nearly  nine  hundred  feet 
above  tide,  and  the  South  Mountain  is  there  ascended  by  an 
easy  grade  to  its  summit  in  the  Gap,  called  Gapland.  Across 
the  Gap  lies  the  famed  Catoctin  Valley,  'the  Garden  of  Eden 
of  the  War.' 

"  One  mile  from  the  Gap  in  this  Valley,  is  the  respectable 
village  of  Burkettsville.  Within  sight  are  several  other  towns. 
The  Valley  through  which  the  railroad  rises  about  one  hundred 
feet  to  the  mile,  from  the  Potomac  River  to  Claggetts,  is  called 
Pleasant  Valley,  and  is  overlooked  on  the  west  by  the  towering 
Elk  Ridge,  or  Maryland  Heights.  From  Gapland  both  Valleys 
are  plain  to  see,  as  from  his  saddle  the  horseman  gazes  down  on 
either  hand.  Antietam  is  only  eight  miles  distant  ;  Harper's 
Ferry  the  same. 

"  This  exquisite  country  is  nearly  equidistant  from 
Hagerstown,  Frederick  City  and  Charlestown,  West  Virginia, 
each  two  hours'  drive  by  carriage.  It  is  less  than  two  hours' 
railway  journey  from  Washington  City,  and  several  trains  a  day 
run  both  ways." 

For  information  as  to  building  sites,  etc.,  address, 

GAPLAND  IMPROVEMENT   CO., 

Claggetts,   Maryland. 


MRS.     REYNOLDS 


AND 


HAMILTON 


ROMANCE 


BY 


ALFRED  TOWNSEND 
"OATH" 

NTAILED     HAT,"     "  KATY     OF     CATOCTIN,'' 
CHESAPEAKE/'  "BOHEMIAN    DAYS." 
FTC. 


Re 
by 
wr; 


NEW   YORK 

E.    F,    BONAVEXTURE 

3IST  STREET  AND  BROAD\YAY 
1890 


GAPLAND. 


"  The  nearest  mountain  air  to  the  City  of  Washington  is 
to  be  found  on  the  Hagerstown  branch  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad  at  Crampton's  Gap,  which  is  but  one  mile  from  the 
post  office  and  railway  station  of  Claggetts,  Washington  County, 
Maryland.  The  railway  station  is  nearly^^  Qf  t[ie1  bank's  whicn  wef! 
above  tide,  and  the  South  Mountain  is  tlidated  were  founded  by  men 

...      ,  i       r  11  mes  have  been  household  words 

easy  grade  to  its  summit  in  the  Gap,  calle™^6  New  York  and  the  l 

the   Gap  lies  the  famed  Catoctin  Valley,  '  ates    an(j  S0me  of  whose  decei 
of   the    War/  e   members   of   the  present  bo* 


"  One  mile  from  the  Gap  in  this  Valley.  L  Griggs  is  the  i 
village  of  Burkettsville.  Within  sight  are  Airman  of  the  board  of  trustee 
The  Valley  through  which  the  railroad  riseslwin  G.  Merrill,  President.  Ho 

astees  are  Frederic  W.  Stevens 
feet  to  the  mile,  from  the  Potomac  River  tc  .     1872-  C    D.  Leverich,  ele 

Pleasant  Valley,  and  is  overlooked  on  the  \v*76;  and  Stuyvesant  Fish,  ele< 

Elk  Ridge,  or  Maryland  Heights.     From  G?83- 

The  board  of  trustees  is  comp 

are  piain  to  see,  as  from  his  saddle  the  horse  e  f0nowing: 
either  hand.     Antietam  is   only  eight   miles  Edmund  L.  Baylies,  Nicholas 
Ferry  the  same.  -seph    H.    Choate,    Jr.,    Hei 

50per,    Lincoln    Cromwell,    \\ 
'This    exquisite    country     is     nearly     J^iciiscam;    num" 


Hagerstown,  Frederick  City  and  Charlestown,  West  Virginia, 
each  two  hours'  drive  by  carriage.  It  is  less  than  two  hours' 
railway  journey  from  Washington  City,  and  several  trains  a  day 
run  both  ways." 

For  information  as  to  building  sites,  etc.,  address, 

GAPLAND  IMPROVEMENT  CO., 

Claggetts,  Maryland. 


MRS.     REYNOLDS 


AND 


HAMILTON 


ROMANCE 


BY 


GEORGE    ALFRED   TOWNSEND 


AUTHOR    OF    "THE  ENTAILED   HAT,"   "  KATY   OF   CATOCTIN,' 

"TALES  OF  THE  CHESAPEAKE/'  "  BOHEMIAN  DAYS." 

F.TC. 


NEW   YORK 

E.    F,    BONAVENTURE 

3isT  STREET  AND  BROADWAY 
1890 


COPYRIGHT,  1890,  BY 
G.  A.    TOWNSEND. 

[All  rights  reserved.} 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Co., 
Astor  Place,  New  York. 


To  JOHN  G.   MOORE 


OF    NEW    YORK. 


FRIEND  INDEED. 


M123140 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  THE  PRIESTLEYS 7 

II.  HAMILTON 18 

III.  BURR 24 

IV.  THE  WASHINGTONS 32 

V.  CHILD  AND  CLIENT 43 

VI.  THE  ADVENTURESS 55 

VII.  THE  POLITICAL  MOLE 66 

VIII.    TO  THE    SUSQUEHANNA 69 

IX.   BINGHAM'S  SUMMER  PARTY 75 

X.  HAL  AND  MARIA 86 

XI.  MARIA  BELEAGUERED 100 

XII.  HAMILTON  MARCHES 113 

XIII.  ARKEOLOGY 120 

XIV.  RIVAL  WOMEN 132 

XV.  FINANCIERS  IN  TEMPTATION 145 

XVI.  JAKE  CLINGMAN  DRUMMED  OUT 163 

XVII.  HAMILTON  RESIGNS 175 

XVIII.  ANACONDA  AT  HOME 180 

XIX.  BLACKMAILERS 191 

XX.    HOUSEMAKINGS 2O3 

XXI.  BELL  AND  BOOK 215 

XXII.  CONFESSION  . .  .228 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXIII.  ECHO 235 

XXIV.  THE  PREPARER 245 

XXV.  MOULDING  BULLETS 259 

XXVI.  REST 264 

APPENDIX 275 


MRS.  REYNOLDS  AND  HAMILTON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    PRIESTLEYS. 

AT  sixty  years  of  age  Doctor  Priestley  bade  his  mar 
ried  daughter  adieu — his  first-born  child. 

Sarah  played  with  her  father's  changing  ringlets  and 
nursed  his  head  upon  her  shoulder,  the  tears  coming  out 
as  her  eyes  tried  to  smile. 

"Harry,"  she  said  to  her  brother,  **  be  very  kind  to 
father,  and  study  to  be  a  preacher  like  him.  You  will 
be  sure  to  come  back,  because  you  are  so  young  ;  but  he 
— oh,  cruel,  cruel,  to  take  this  old,  soft  head  away  ! — I 
may  never  see  him  again  !  " 

"  Daughter,  there  is  a  bridge  above  our  heads  that 
spans  the  ocean — heaven.  We  shall  walk  across  it  into 
the  fast  piers  of  each  other's  arms,  if  we  persevere." 

"  Oh  !  I  shall  hear  your  voice  until  I  die  ;  but,  taken 
from  me  before  death,  all  gentle  and  breathing  as  I  see 
you,  with  every  brother  going  also,  it  seems  as  if  the 
righteous  are  forsaken  and  the  scoffer's  boast  is  true." 

"  Sarah,  we  are  to  go  to  a  land  where  there  can  be  no 
more  controversy,"  said  Mrs.  Priestley;  "what  profit  is 
there  in  it  all  ?  I  hoped  your  father  would  minister  to 
his  own  fold,  keep  his  own  heart  pure,  and  let  all  his 
metaphysics  be  natural  philosophy.  Now  I  see  him 
rejected  by  Britain,  while  Lavoisier  is  safe  in  blood 
stained  France." 

'•  Do  not  upbraid  father,"  pleaded  Sarah. 

"  Never  has  she  upbraided,"  said  Priestley,  "  but  suf- 


$  "Mi£s.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

fered  for  me.     Of  her — poor  lodger  in  so  many  broken 
homes — it  can  be  said  : 

"  '  Many  a  weary  mile  she  beat 

With  her  brood  about  her  feet- 
Lodging  in  another's  nest. 

Lord  !  at  last  thy  parsonage  door 

Open  to  her,  evermore  ; 

Take  her  cross,  and  give  her  rest.'  " 

All  felt  the  pathos  of  these  simple  lines,  and  their  sobs 
were  broken  by  Priestley's  quavering  voice,  saying  : 

"  I  think  I  see  rest  in  America,  and  the  end  of  political 
dispute  ;  that  shall  be  my  desire.  But  whether  we  meet 
again,  my  daughter,  in  this  world  or  not,  there  is  a  res 
urrection,  and  it  must  be  in  these  bodies  we  rejoiced  and 
suffered  in.  Though  worms  destroy  me,  yet  in  my  flesh 
I  shall  see  God.  There  is  the  blissful  hope  of  everlast 
ing  meeting." 

The  vessel  took  all  their  household  effects,  library  and 
apparatus,  and  sailed  from  the  Thames  to  New  York  in 
fifty-eight  days. 

As  the  Priestleys'  vessel  dropped  anchor,  Mr.  Thomas 
Cooper  met  them,  and  soon  said  : 

"  Lavoisier  is  dead." 

u  Dead  !  "  exclaimed  Doctor  Priestley.  "  He  was  alive 
when  I  sailed." 

"  He  died  while  you  were  upon  the  ocean,  and  by  the 
guillotine — aged  fifty-one." 

"  Oh,"  sighed  Doctor  Priestley,  u  could  a  head  like  that, 
which  a  thousand  years  can  rarely  grow,  be  severed  in 
one  moment  ? " 

Before  they  started  from  New  York  Mr.  Cooper  had 
some  publications  made  to  exploit  Doctor  Priestley  as  a 
firm  friend  of  America  and  a  public  abjurer  of  England. 

This  anonymous  praise,  however  well  intended,  brought 
immediate  enmity  upon  the  learned  exile. 

Priestley  opened  the  small,  party-fanged  journals  when 
he  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  and  saw  himself  made  the 
subject  of  political  controversy. 

"  Oh,  Joseph,"  exclaimed  his  wife,  "  who  has  misrepre 
sented  you  like  this  ?  Will  we  never  find  peace  this  side 
of  heaven  ? " 

"  It  is  all  false,"  answered  the  doctor  ;  "  I  do  not  re 
joice  in  the  defeats  of  my  countrymen,  and  I  shall  never 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  9 

be  else  than  an  Englishman — never  be  naturalized  in  this 
or  any  other  land.     I  will  reply  to  this  reporter." 

"  Oh,  let  it  alone,  husband  ;  it  may  be  forgotten.  Let 
us  travel  as  fast  as  we  can  to  the  peaceful  vale  of  the 
Susquehanna,  beyond  the  strife  of  cities  and  of  states." 

While  waiting  to  send  their  extensive  effects  overland 
to  the  new  town  of  Northumberland,  the  discoverer  of 
Oxygen  preached  a  sermon  at  the  small  chapel  of  the  Uni- 
versalists,  and  amongst  his  auditors  were  Vice-President 
Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson. 

Mr.  Adams  went  to  lodgings  with  Priestley,  and  took 
dinner  with  the  exile's  family.  They  were  surprised  by 
Senator  Aaron  Burr,  who,  dressed  in  new  widower's  habi 
liments,  dropped  in  to  pay  his  respects. 

A  queenly-looking  young  woman,  a  Mrs.  Reynolds, 
had  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  strangers,  being  a 
fellow-lodger  with  them ;  and  this  American  brunette, 
with  languid  address  and  easy  and  engaging  ways,  was 
the  first  study  of  a  female  of  the  country  Mary  Priestley 
and  her  daughter-in-law  had  made. 

Joe  Priestley,  the  doctor's  oldest  son,  had  come  out 
with  his  wife,  late  Lizzie  Ryland — whose  family's  property 
the  Tory  mob  had  destroyed  at  Birmingham — a  young 
mother  of  hardly  twenty,  and  the  bride  of  but  two  years  ; 
one  whose  comforts  and  condition  in  England  gave  the 
greatest  solicitude  to  the  Priestleys  as  to  her  being  happy 
with  their  son  in  this  new  world,  whither  she  had  unre- 
luctantly  come.  They  feared  that,  her  curiosity  being 
satisfied,  her  strong  social  nature  would  have  a  reaction, 
and  take  her  husband  home  to  England. 

'•  You  must  like  America,  ladies,"  said  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  a  chubby,  bald  man  of  very  blue  eyes  and  a  Jewish 
nose,  wearing  hair  powder  and  shaking  it  off  when  ex 
cited.  "  If  you  were  in  Boston,  now,  I  could  guarantee 
you.  Why,  I  had  to  carry  Independence  in  this  city 
single-handed  and  alone  !  Jefferson  did  a  little  writing 
on  the  subject — he  was  no  speaker — but  he  put  the  cart 
before  the  horse  in  accusing  the  king  instead  of  parlia 
ment  and  ministry.  Indeed,  I  rather  like  George  III. 
He  told  me,  when  in  response  to  his  insinuation  that  I 
liked  the  English  better  than  the  French,  and  I  said,  *  No, 
your  majesty  ;  I  have  no  attachment  but  to  my  own 
country,' — what  do  you  think  he  said,  now  ?  He  said, 


10  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

looking  right  at  me  :  '  An  honest  man  will  never  have 
any  other  ! '  I  tell  you,  Doctor,  I  felt  that  compliment." 

The  Vice-President  crossed  his  buff  stockings,  shook 
his  hair  powder  upon  his  knee-buckles,  and  went  on  to 
compliment  the  sermon. 

But  Priestley  felt  that  this  man  might  have  spared  him, 
in  delicacy  of  feeling,  the  reflection  the  king's  remark 
was  upon  his  own  exile. 

Colonel  Burr  felt  for  Priestley,  apparently,  for  he  said, 
as  Mr.  Adams  retired  : 

"  How  egotism  shrivels  up  real  merits  !  It  does  not 
become  me,  ladies  "—looking  at  the  younger  Mrs.  Priest 
ley  and  at  Mrs.  Reynolds — "  to  compliment  New  York  ; 
but  as  that  city  is  gathering  into  its  symposium  all  that  is 
rare  and  beautiful,  why  did  you  not  tarry  with  us,  who 
have  the  imperial  gateway  of  the  West  and  beautiful 
women — but  nothing  like  Mrs.  Priestley  and  these?" 

He  waved  his  head  and  hand  toward  each  of  the  three 
women. 

Mrs.  Priestley  looked  up,  and  paid  a  new  attention  to 
Colonel  Burr  ;  a  smile  of  pleasure  stayed  on  Mrs.  Rey 
nolds'  face  ;  Lizzie  Priestley  said  : 

"  Colonel  Burr,  what  sort  of  person  is  your  New  York 
minister,  Hamilton  ?  My  father  and  our  English  mer 
cantile  class  all  admire  Colonel  Hamilton,  and  I  would 
like  to  write  home  some  account  of  him." 

"  Dear  me  !  "  remarked  Colonel  Burr  ;  "  is  little  Ham. 
known  over  there,  too  ?  Well,  he  always  was  enter 
prising  in  his  advertisements.  Every  time  the  contribu 
tion-box  was  passed  around  for  him  in  the  West  Indies 
—he  being  a  sort  of  charity  scholar  in  America — he  took 
part  of  the  money  to  publish  some  pamphlet  or  other. 
Something  over  twenty  years  ago  I  saw  a  new  boy  at 
the  Elizabethtown  Grammar  School,  burnt  almost  black, 
upon  a  fair,  girlish  skin.  That  was  my  home,  and  the 
stranger  was  Secretary  Hamilton,  then  probably  fifteen 
years  of  age.  He  had  come  to  see  my  uncle  Edwards, 
to  make  some  religious  inquiries  with  a  view  to  the  Pres 
byterian  ministry.  A  little  midget,  as  he  seemed,  he 
already  wanted  to  lay  himself  alongside  of  the  fame  of 
my  grandfather,  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards.  There  you 
have  Hamilton,  my  friends  !  He  never  hears  of  anything 
celebrated  but  he  compares  himself  with  it  at  once ;  and 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  II 

when  he  meets  you,  Doctor,  he  will  be  crammed  full  of 
chemistry  for  the  occasion." 

"I  can  see  no  evil  in  early  maturity  of  purpose,"  said 
Doctor  Priestley,  "  except  the  commonplace  enemies  it 
makes.  Often  puny  and  undersized  men  mature  fast, 
being  no  match  for  the  athletes  of  the  playground,  and 
by  that  amount  of  time  are  set  forward  in  acquirements. 
I  preached  while  a  boy,  and  was  sneered  at  by  the  same 
people  who,  after  I  obtained  some  reputation,  crowded 
the  chapel  to  hear  me  ;  but  I  was  as  sincere  in  the  first 
case  as  in  the  last." 

"  And  so  is  Colonel  Hamilton,"  mildly  remarked  Mrs. 
Reynolds.  "  For  seventeen  years,  or  since  I  was  a  child, 
his  name  has  been  connected  with  everything  of  impor 
tance  in  America,  and  he  is  now  hardly  thirty-seven.  Yet 
he  is  deeply  disliked.  What  is  the  reason  of  it  ? " 

"  For  one  thing,"  said  Joe  Priestley,  the  younger, 
"  because  he  separates  justice  from  bias  and  resentment. 
He  opposed  further  confiscations,  and  demanded  that 
British  debts  stand  as  good  as  other  honest  obligations. 
I  think  well  of  him.  There  seems  to  be  an  element  in 
the  United  States  subsisting  upon  the  hostilities  of  the 
last  war,  and  I  don't  believe  they  were  the  best  soldiers, 
either." 

Mrs.  Reynolds  barely  raised  her  eyes  to  observe 
Colonel  Burr,  who  had  taken  Mrs.  Joe  Priestley's  smell 
ing-bottle  to  make  it  the  basis  of  a  light  compliment. 

Harry  Priestley,  a  fine,  slender  boy  of  sixteen,  was 
looking  at  Mrs.  Reynolds  with  frank  respect. 

"You  loike  men  to  be  ambitious-loike,"  he  said,  with 
Yorkshire  diphthongs  on  his  tongue. 

"  No,  Harry  ;  young  as  this  country  and  government 
are,  I  have  seen  enough  of  public  intrigue.  I  wish  I 
could  go,  like  you  all,  to  the  Susquehanna,  and  never  see 
Philadelphia  again." 

"  Would  farm-life  suit  thee  ?  "  asked  Harry. 

"  A  farm  ?     It  is  what  I  have  always  desired,  Hal." 

"  I  feel  confirmed,"  said  Mrs.  Priestley,  "  in  every 
prejudice  I  ever  formed  against  sincere  men  taking  up 
public  life.  For  every  talent  they  offer,  a  host  of  hate 
starts  up  ;  yet  there  seem  a  multitude  of  men  who  can 
think  of  nothing  else — and  what  is  disinterested  about  it 
all  ?  Think  of  Burke  spurning  the  friendly  hand  of  Fox 


12  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

because  they  could  not  think  alike  about  the  French  ! 
Here  are  we,  made  homeless  for  the  same  subject,  and 
met  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  not  as  victims,  but  as 
parts  of  a  foreign  and  nearly  universal  contention." 

"  I  like  America  very  well,"  said  Lizzie  Priestley,  "  from 
what  I  have  seen  of  it.  Men  must  be  patriotic,  and, 
therefore,  politicians.  I  like  to  see  young  senators,  like 
Colonel  Burr,  and  financial  philosophers,  like  his  com 
petitor,  Hamilton,  start  up  like  the  bees  in  Samson's 
dead  lion.  Not  even  women  can  run  away  from  the 
dangers  of  nature  and  of  institutions — such  as  marriage, 
for  example.  Who  knows  how  a  husband  will  turn  out  ? 
Who  knows  what  temptations  will  come  to  one's  self  ? 
The  joy  of  children  is  nearly  related  to  the  perils  of  death. 
Yet  we  marry,  and  so  men  become  politicians.  Father 
Priestley  has  merely  incurred  some  of  the  distresses  of 
defeat,  and  is  set  ashore  safe  and  sound,  with  rest  and 
competence  before  him  ;  but  here  is  President  Washing 
ton,  the  noblest  man  in  the  world,  who  might  ere  this  have 
been  executed  for  high  treason  ;  politics  brought  him 
from  provincial  rust  to  the  light  of— 

"  Oxygen,"  finished  Colonel  Burr,  playfully. 

"  Phlogiston,  I'll  thank  you  to  say.  Senator,"  cried 
Thomas  Cooper,  coming  in.  "  We  will  have  no  new 
fangled  nitrogens,  nor  oxygens  neither.  The  point  of 
my  coming  is  that  here  are  the  names  of  both  Hamilton 
and  Jefferson,  and  they  may  make  an  awkward  arrival." 

"  I  cannot  be  supposed  to  know,"  said  Doctor  Priestley, 
"  all  the  involutions  of  American  personal  life  ;  and  so 
let  them  come,  as  to  a  sanctuary,  together." 

"  Will  you  stay,  Colonel  Burr  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Reynolds, 
archly. 

"  How  could  I  leave  these  charms  ?  "  replied  Senator 
Burr.  "  Hamilton  is  a  little  sore  because  I  got  his  pa-in- 
law's  seat  in  the  Senate  ;  but,  in  spite  of  my  raillery  of 
his  youth,  he  is  full  of  imagination." 

As  Mr.  Cooper  brought  the  two  distinguished  men  in, 
separately,  he  looked  like  some  hereditary  and  privileged 
lacquey  of  an  old  British  household,  with  bodily  signs  of 
having  been  descended  from  a  king's  jester. 

As  Hamilton  entered  and  observed  the  other  two,  he 
betrayed  no  feeling  at  all  ;  but  greeting  Doctor  Priest 
ley,  whose  person  he  readily  identified,  he  welcomed  Mrs. 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  13 

Priestley  also  to  the  new  republic,  and  waited  to  be 
presented  to  the  other  ladies. 

When  Mrs.  Reynolds  was  introduced,  last,  she  called 
him  "  Hamilton  ;  "  and  Aaron  Burr  saw  that  they  were 
former  acquaintances. 

Colonel  Hamilton  addressed  Mr.  Jefferson  cordially  as 
"  Governor,"  and  bowed  to  Colonel  Burr  with  no  less 
promptness  ;  while  to  Joseph  Priestley,  Jr.,  and  wife,  he 
paid  the  marked  attention  due  to  people  who  had 
chosen  America  for  long  to  come. 

"  No  man  has  come  to  us,  Doctor,"  said  Hamilton, 
"more  impartially  desired.  No  one,  I  am  sure,  will  find 
the  ground  so  new  and  to  his  own  making.  As  there  are 
no  Pennsylvanians  here,  I  desire  to  put  in  the  first  word 
for  the  city  of  New  York,  where  I  have  assisted  to  plan 
an  infant  University.  There,  to  all  appearances,  will  be 
the  western  London,  and  we  need  your  name  and  knowl 
edge  to  head  our  faculty." 

"  Pardon  me,  Colonel  Hamilton,"  said  Jefferson.  "  I 
confess  you  the  victor  in  the  government,  for  I  am  out. 
But  that  very  thing  of  a  state  University  is  under  con 
sideration  now  in  Virginia,  and  I  beseech  you,  let  Priestley 
come  to  us." 

"With  all  my  heart,"  spoke  Hamilton.  "So  Doctor 
Priestley  be  employed  in  the  material  sciences  some 
where,  there  can  be  no  objection  to  this  or  that  spot.  I 
only  desire  to  save  him,  for  the  sacred  purposes  of  physi 
cal  discovery,  from  the  wretched  political  dialectics  he 
may  be  tempted  to  listen  to.  Since  Doctor  Franklin's 
death  we  have  no  other  men  of  science  than  a  few  phy 
sicians,  and  I  apprehend  that  chemistry  will  overwhelm 
such  physic  as  we  have,  which  is  bleeding  to  death  the 
most  valuable  and  venerable  lives  in  the  land." 

"  Princeton  College,  the  scene  of  my  father's  martyr 
dom,  has  been  the  only  institution  to  invite  Doctor  Priest 
ley  to  preach,"  said  Senator  Burr,  "though  its  theology 
and  his  differ  as  the  two  poles.  There  is  the  true  place 
for  him  to  apply  his  science,  central  to  all  these  states." 

"  I  do  not  desire  the  Doctor  to  enter  any  institution," 
said  Mrs.  Priestley.  "  He  has  declined  already  to  teach 
in  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  Nearly  every  useful  dis 
covery  or  philosophical  instrument  which  he  has  made 
came  from  his  private  studies,  aided  by  the  stimulation  of 


14  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

his  private  friends.  He  is  falling  behind  and  others  are 
pushing  on.  Lavoisier  has  left  a  rounded  fame  ;  Count 
Rumford,  an  American,  has  taken  Franklin's  place.  Look 
at  that  lamp  of  M.  Argand  upon  the  mantel  :  it  will  light 
learning  a  hundred  years,  and  yet  it  was  Franklin's 
caveat,  whom  politics  drew  away  before  he  could  perfect  it. 
Gentlemen,  Doctor  Priestley  and  I  are  old,  and  both  poli 
tics  and  theology  are  speculative  sciences." 

"  Oxygen  must  take  a  back  seat,"  insisted  Thomas 
Cooper,  perseveringly.  "  Doctor  Priestley  will  hunt 
Lavoisier  to  his  hole." 

Doctor  Priestley's  agreeable  anticipations  of  Jefferson 
were  not  disappointed  by  his  warm  support  of  the  exile's 
fading  theory  of  phlogiston,  but  Hamilton  held  his 
peace. 

"  I  have  heard,  Colonel  Hamilton,  of  your  rapid  ac 
quisition  of  knowledge,"  said  Doctor  Priestley's  married 
son.  "  Where  did  you  study  chemistry  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  in  these  provinces  we  have  always  had  alert 
ears  for  the  sounds  beyond  the  deep.  I  found  men  in 
New  York,  like  Doctor  Mitchell,  not  unequal  to  a  debate 
with  your  father,  Mr.  Joseph,  to  instruct  me  ;  and  being 
both  Scotch  and  French,  mechanics  and  natural  philosophy 
came  ardently  to  my  tastes.  If  I  could  see  this  land  set 
tled  to  its  honest  obligations,  and  the  law  would  deliver 
me  to  a  respectable  independence,  such  as  my  wife's  sta 
tion  entitles  her  to,  I  would  ask  you,  Doctor  Priestley,  to 
take  me  into  your  sylvan  laboratory  and  educate  me 
for  the  great  applications  of  natural  philosophy  to  the 
revenues  of  America.  We  must  have  manufactures  to 
nurse  the  arts  and  create  another  England.  My  moth 
er's  ancestry  were  driven  from  France,  to  start  the  looms 
of  Britain,  by  Louis  XIV.  May  I  also  see,  before  I 
die,  the  rude  hand  of  George  III.  compel  in  these  states 
every  manual  craft  with  pneumatic  power  to  multiply  our 
hands !  " 

Senator  Burr,  this  while,  had  been  paying  compliments 
to  all  the  ladies,  without  qualification  ;  but  Lizzie  Priest 
ley  was  too  much  engaged  with  the  scene  before  her  to 
give  much  regard  to  that  cool,  presuming  little  man. 

She  recognized  the  interesting  representatives  of  the 
last-born  race  and  nation  in  its  three  public  men — per 
fectly  different  from  the  English,  whose  language  they 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  15 

spoke,  but  nearer  woman's  taste  in  men,  she  thought, 
than  any  men  she  had  ever  seen. 

At  home,  in  England,  men's  topics  were  seldom  dis 
cussed  before  women.  Here  the  successive  speakers 
looked  at  the  women  as  earnestly  as  at  the  men,  paying 
them  not  merely  the  compliment  of  common-sense  talk, 
but  the  reality  of  confidence  in  their  judgment  and  per 
ception. 

To  that  real  compliment  Lizzie  Priestley's  nature 
sprang  ;  she  liked  men  more  than  ever,  and  Hamilton 
seemed  to  her  the  Adonis  of  politicians — young,  sincere, 
pleasing,  vitalized  and  gallant,  with  habits  testified  by  his 
radiant  skin,  and  something  like  royalty  in  his  gracious 
reserve. 

He  was  small,  but  every  joint  and  muscle  had  been 
trained  by  exercise  and  war  till  he  seemed  the  Dauphin 
of  the  State,  held  back  from  his  full  honors  only  by  the 
regency  of  another  till  his  time  should  be  ripe. 

A  little  of  young  William  Pitt  was  in  Hamilton's  high, 
steepling  forehead. 

Here  was  a  man  who  had  made  his  way  to  Washington's 
side  from  orphanage  and  exile,  and  he  seemed  a  bright 
omen  of  her  husband's  promotion  in  America. 

She  marked  the  perfect  neatness  of  this  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  ;  his  powdered  hair  flowing  into  its  queue- 
like  woman's  braids  ;  no  powder  dust  was  on  his  blue, 
gilt-buttoned  coat,  which  rose  to  the  seam  of  his  high- 
collared  waistcoat  of  wrhite  silk,  delineating  there  almost 
feminine  shoulders ;  his  head  was  held  erect  and  was  the 
flower  of  the  firm,  military  spine,  its  every  inclination 
emphasizing  strength  and  grace.  His  eyes  were  regular 
and  clear,  holding  a  smile  distilled  in  reason,  and  were 
becoming  to  the  rose  and  lily  in  his  cheeks  and  temples. 
Hamilton's  nose  was  the  warrior's,  Roman  to  the  bridge, 
Creole  to  the  nostrils  ;  the  mouth  was  kissable,  all  women 
thought,  and  explained  no  more  ;  for  in  that  face  were 
lines,  toward  the  mouth,  of  the  enjoyments  of  the  roving 
sons  of  God. 

"  What  a  gentleman  !  "  thought  Lizzie  Priestley,  as  she 
noted  the  swan-formed  breast  of  Hamilton  beneath  his 
spotless  shirt  ruffles,  and  saw  the  turn  of  his  silken  hose 
crossed  upon  his  knee.  His  black  small-clothes  were 
drawn  to  the  delicacy  of  his  hips,  and  his  white  ruffles  at 


l6  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

the  wrists  were  tinted  by  the  azure  veins  there,  which  fed 
the  fingers  that  wrote  like  majesty. 

*A11  good  women  sometimes  pine  for  a  man  refined  to 
ward  their  own  delicacy  of  body  and  mind,  and  that 
feeling  drew  young  Joseph  Priestley's  wife  toward  Ham 
ilton. 

Colonel  Burr  was  also  small,  symmetrical  and  pleasing, 
but  suggestions  in  him  led  toward  the  commonplace. 

His  nose  turned  up,  after  a  straight,  abiding  course, 
and  ended  in  something  between  the  Puritan  and  the 
snub  ;  he  was  one  of  the  small  talkers,  too,  whom  most 
women  like,  but  a  few  women  will  not  abide.  A  worldly 
smartness  in  Burr  replaced  what  seemed  a  disciplined 
imagination  in  Hamilton,  and  the  Secretary  was  now 
being  flattered  by  Colonel  Burr,  to  which  he  listened 
with  a  quiet  austerity  which  at  length  resulted  in 
silence. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  rather  a  negative  guest  in  the  pres 
ence  of  Hamilton — a  pleasing  figure  and  face,  however 
— tall,  red,  also  woman-like,  but  it  was  the  womanhood 
of  middle  age  ;  he  was  now  fifty-one,  and  the  Priestleys 
had  a  past  knowledge  of  him  when  he  was  in  England,  as 
the  French  Minister,  upon  his  travels. 

He  seemed  a  little  shy,  quite  observant,  and  was  in  a 
large  mould — slightly  hollow  in  the  chest,  as  if  he  had 
grown  too  fast  at  school;  and  he  assented  to  most  of  what 
Hamilton  had  to  say,  sometimes  was  mildly  analytical, 
but  paid  to  the  Secretary  the  deference  of  a  man  out  of 
office  to  one  in  nearly  complete  power. 

"  Doctor  Priestley,"  said  Jefferson,  as  the  afternoon 
sun  sank  low,  "  I  called  to  take  you  to  see  the  relics  and 
grave  of  Doctor  Franklin,  who  spoke  of  you  so  often  as 
his  ward-in-science  and  friend  in  adversity.  Perhaps 
Colonel  Hamilton  and  the  rest  of  these  friends  will. go 
with  us." 

All  expressed  a  desire  to  go,  and  while  the  ladies 
were  retiring  for  their  bonnets  the  men  went  toward  the 
street  to  take  the  air. 

Mrs.  Reynolds,  lingering  behind,  called  the  name  of 
"  Hamilton  "  in  a  hurried,  hardly  voluntary  whisper,  as 
the  last  of  these  had  turned  his  back. 

The  Minister  of  the  Treasury  heard  it,  and  hesitated 
and  returned. 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  1 7 

"  Madame,  did  you  call  my  name  ?  "  he  asked,  respect 
fully,  and  a  little  constrained. 

"Oh,  Colonel  Hamilton  !  why  do  you  treat  me  so  ?  " 

The  parlor,  empty  of  all  but  these,  she  started  "to 
make  more  private  by  touching  the  open  door. 

"  No,"  said  Hamilton,  with  kind  but  positive  decision  ; 
"  no  privacy  ;  I  can  afford  no  more.  You  know,  madame, 
where  my  duty  lies.  Are  you  in  need  ?  " 

The  tall,  rich-tinted  woman  dropped  her  blue  eyes, 
trembled,  raised  her  handkerchief  to  her  face  and  sank 
into  a  chair. 

"Madame!"  she  faltered,  with  her  mouth  wavering 
upon  the  long,  low  wail  of  an  intercepted  sob  ;  "  I  am 
no  more  '  Maria.'  " 

"Yes,"  said  Hamilton,  "you  are  'Maria'  where  your 
duty,  too,  bids  you  expect  that  familiar  name.  As  I 
recall  my  fellow-man,  in  contrition,  think  you,  my  friend, 
upon  your  fellow-woman  ;  as  you  are  a  wife,  I  have 
one." 

Mrs.  Reynolds  recoiled,  yet  instantly  raised  her  eyes, 
and  with  a  fluttering,  finally  wilful  impulse,  she  rose  to 
her  full  length  and  extended  her  arms. 

"  Hamilton,"  she  whispered,  loud  and  eloquently,  "  I 
love  you  ;  you  taught  me  to  do  so.  How  cruel  to  for 
bid  me  now  !  " 

"  All  are  ready,  friends,"  pealed  the  voice  of  Senator 
Burr  at  the  open  door,  where  the  strange  pair  in  their 
strange  colloquy  saw  him  smoothing  his  craped  widower's 
hat  with  his  mourning  gloves.  '•  Come,  my  charming 
Mrs.  Reynolds." 

"  Colonel  Burr,"  replied  the  lady,  her  composure  seized 
rather  than  secured,  "  I  will  not  go  to-day.  I  have 
been  making  a  request  of  Colonel  Hamilton  on  behalf 
of  a  friend." 

"  He  must  grant  it,"  said  Burr  ;  '•  no  gallant  man  ever 
refused  a  lady  with  such  graces.  Go  get  your  hat,  Mrs. 
Reynolds  ;  I'll  wait  for  you.' 


l8  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

CHAPTER    II. 

HAMILTON. 

As  Hamilton  turned  away  from  Franklin's  house  and 
passed  with  his  guests  .through  the  alley  to  High  Street, 
Mrs.  Lizzie  Priestley  remarked  : 

"  I  cannot  get  over  the  feeling  that  something  has  hap 
pened  in  this  city  unlike  the  spirit  of  itself  ;  it  reminds 
me  of  a  family  run  down  in  habits.  The  American  lady, 
Mrs.  Reynolds,  represents  what  I  mean — she  is  interest 
ing  till  you  come  to  examine  her." 

"  You  are  not  wrong  as  to  Philadelphia,"  said  Hamil 
ton,  with  heightened  color  ;  "  the  yellow  fever  of  last 
year  had  the  same  effect  on  this  place  as  the  plague 
upon  London  or  the  Reign  of  Terror  upon  Paris.  In 
three  months  it  buried  five  thousand  inhabitants,  and  re 
duced  the  population  one-half.  Familiarity  with  horror, 
sudden  destitution,  and  the  fatal  relations  of  change  and 
recklessness,  broke  the  habits  of  both  the  city  and  the 
government.  I  felt  the  alteration  in  my  own  nature." 

He  looked  ill  at  ease  till  Mrs.  Priestley,  the  elder,  said: 

"  And  Paris  was  never  so  gay  and  frivolous  as  in  that 
Reign  of  Terror,  which  still  is  carrying  off  its  forty  vic 
tims  a  day." 

"  I  hope  you  have  been  entertained,"  remarked  Colonel 
Hamilton  to  the  Priestley  family,  as  they  were  about  to 
part.  "  I  am  to  all  things  American  so  wrapt  up  that 
this  afternoon  has  seemed  a  visit  to  my  native  isle." 

"  This  is  my  most  lovely  day  in  America,"  exclaimed 
Lizzie  Priestley.  "  Joe,  I  know  you  feel  so,  too  !  I 
shall  write  it  down,  to  let  my  child  know  that  Hamil 
ton  gave  us  almost  half  of  one  of  his  precious  days." 

"  But  marriage  is  a  jealous  wall,"  added  Hamilton, 
"  and  women  cavil  at  friendship  across  it.  I  suppose  we 
shall  part  just  as  we  begin  to  know  each  other." 

"  I  am  sure  you  will  find  no  wall  in  me,"  cried  Joe 
Priestley,  "  if  you  like  my  wife.  She  is  too  necessary  to 
me  to  have  her  separated  from  strong  and  bright  men  in 
this  country,  where  I  want  her  to  appreciate  the  social 
freedom  of  a  new  land.  See  !  she  is  blushing  ;  and  I 
know  she  likes  you,  Mr.  Secretary." 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  19 

"  If  I  blush,"  said  Joe  Priestley's  bride,  "  it  is  to  see 
how  true  gentlemen  rise  above  smallness  when  they  see 
that  a  woman  appreciates  them  both.  I  am  as  proud  of 
my  husband  as  of " 

She  stopped  and  blushed  again. 

"  Say  *  of  your  friend,'  "  interpolated  Joe  Priestley, 
bluntly.  "  Say  my  friend,  too.  He  is  welcome  to  call 
on  my  wife  whenever  he  likes." 

"  And  no  need  of  hurrying  away  now,"  added  Joe's 
mother  ;  "  for  I  confess  I  always  liked  the  men.  My  hus 
band  took  me  to  a  boarding-school  at  our  marriage,  and 
I  was  thrown  among  his  fellow  tutors,  and  for  years  we 
had  young  men  boarders  in  our  parsonage  for  whom  I 
sewed  and  kept  their  secrets.  Lord  Shelburne's  son  was 
like  my  own.  We  are  not  afraid  of  State  folks  ;  so  come 
up  and  be  one  of  my  boys,  Colonel  Hamilton." 

They  went  to  Doctor  Priestley's  lodgings,  and  there 
was  some  commotion  on  the  stairs.  Mrs.  Reynolds  was 
standing  there  by  a  strange,  sullen  man,  and  the  landlady 
of  the  house,  behind  them  both,  glared  angry  and  inter 
rupted. 

"  There  he  is — there  is  Colonel  Hamilton,"  said  the 
sullen  man  ;  "  speak  to  him  for  yourself  !  " 

Seeing  tears  in  Mrs.  Reynolds'  eyes,  the  Priestley 
women  stopped  inquiringly,  but  Joe  Priestley  motioned 
them  on,  and  only  Hamilton  remained. 

"  You  mentioned  my  name,  madame,"  the  Minister  of 
Finance  observed,  with  sobered  countenance.  "  Be  as 
sured  I  shall  always  answer  to  it." 

His  glance  was  fixed  rather  upon  the  man  than  the 
woman. 

"  The  long  and  short  of  it  is,"  muttered  the  man,  "  that 
Maria's  things  have  been  seized  by  the  landlady  :  she 
can't  pay  her  board.  They  are  going  to  put  her  out. 
You'll  lend  her  the  currency,  Colonel  Hamilton  ;  you 
manufacture  plenty  of  it." 

A  sneer  was  on  his  lip,  and  an  evil,  lurking  eye  at 
tended  his  words. 

Hamilton  drew  out  his  purse  and  slipped  its  rings  to 
show  its  emptiness. 

"  The  cry  of  suffering  I  never  pass,"  said  he.  "  Old 
comrades  of  the  war  keep  me  poor  with  helping  of  them. 
I  have  not  here  a  shilling  to  my  name." 


20  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  I  suppose  you  can  borrow,"  muttered  the  man  ;  "  you 
are  a  great  person  in  the  State.  I  demand  it  of  you  !  " 

He  came  forward  with  a  face  flushed  by  drink  and 
insolence — a  genteel  form,  a  complexion  naturally  good 
— and  made  an  awkward  and  menacing  motion,  like  a 
highway  robber's. 

Mrs.  Reynolds  looked  an  instant  at  the  two  men,  and 
came  between  them,  brushing  the  tears  of  shame  from 
her  eyes. 

"  You  shall  not,  James  Reynolds  !  "  she  said  ;  "  he 
tells  the  truth.  Money  forced  from  him  to  feed  your 
family  in  want,  you  have  gambled  and  drank  with,  and 
you  shall  not  rob  this  gentleman  again,  although  I  must 
be  made  to  blush  before  these  English  friends  and  walk 
the  streets  this  Sunday  evening,  to  parade  the  name  of 
such  a  man  as  I  have  married  ! " 

She  towered  nearly  to  the  height  of  the  man  she  ad 
dressed,  as  if  she  would  crush  his  frame  in  her  long  and 
muscular  arms.  He  sank  down  a  stair  or  two,  and  with 
muttering  stalked  away. 

Hamilton,  too,  left  the  place  where  his  dignity  was 
being  so  compromised,  and  entered  the  Priestleys'  par 
lor. 

As  the  landlady  renewed  her  importunities,  Colonel 
Aaron  Burr  appeared  before  Mrs.  Reynolds  with  young 
Harry  Priestly  at  his  side. 

"  Here,  my  lovely  debtor,  is  the  sum  you  need,"  whis 
pered  Colonel  Burr,  proffering  bank-notes. 

"  I  know  the  price,  Colonel  Burr,"  Mrs.  Reynolds  an 
swered,  with  decision,  "  that  your  assistance  implies,  and 
I  cannot  pay  it." 

He  smiled  without  noticing  the  woman's  contempt  of 
him,  and  softly  observed  : 

"  Why,  .1  got  it  easily  enough  ;  I  borrowed  it  from 
Master  Priestley  here." 

"And  for  you,  my  dearest  lady,"  said  young  Hal,  with 
fervor,  "  I  would  pawn  my  shoes  and  jacket ;  for  I  know 
that  you  are  good  and  basely  persecuted-like.  Take  it, 
and  be  thee  welcome." 

The  tall,  stately  woman  wrapped  the  young  lad  in  her 
arms  and  kissed  him  like  a  brother. 

"  Thank  God  !  "  said  she,  in  suppressed  eloquence, 
"  that  there  is  one  pure  heart  to  see  good  in  me  yet  and 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  21 

feel  for  my  injuries — whose  greatest  crime  has  been  this 
fatal  gift  of  beauty." 

"Thou  hast  it,"  spoke  the  youngest  son  of  Priestley  ; 
"thy  beauty  has  pierced  me  !  It  is  my  first  passion,  but 
I  have  it  altogaither,  and  would  yon  evil  man,  that  can 
call  thee  woife  by  law,  was  parted  from  thee,  that  I  might 
take  thee  to  the  woods  thou  didst  speak  of  with  love,  and 
be  my  lady  to  serve  and  care  for  !  " 

The  boy  stood  trembling  with  the  depth  and  transport 
of  his  confession.  Mrs.  Reynolds  looked  at  him  in  won 
der  and  sympathy,  and  sighed  : 

"  You  would  not  marry  me,  poor  Hal  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  boy:  "  whenever  the  law  can  do  thee 
right,  Maria,  and  give  me  room.  I  never  can  forget  thee  !  " 

"  I  see  a  chance,"  intervened  Colonel  Burr,  "  to  help 
both  of  you.  There  is  no  more  disparity  in  your  ages 
than  between  mine  and  the  wife  I  mourn,  who  was  ten 
years  my  senior,  and  my  guiding  star.  A  widow,  too, 
with  boys  well  grown.  Let  me  divorce  you,  my  charm 
ing  Reynolds,  from  the  husband  who  no  longer  supports 
you  ;  this  scene  to-day  is  evidence  enough  of  his  deser 
tion,  and  I  am  lawyer  enough  to  get  you  free  before 
young  Hal  is  ready  for  your  arms." 

He  addressed  them  both  -with  kindness  on  his  tongue, 
and  easy,  worldly  sincerity. 

"  Indeed,"  remarked  the  landlady,  as  she  took  the 
proffered  money  from  Mrs.  Reynolds  and  retired,  "  there 
is  but  one  way  with  those  worthless  '  harigers-on '  of 
husbands  :  set  them  adrift  by  law  !  I've  had  to  do  it 
myself." 

Mrs.  Reynolds  looked  at  her  young  deliverer  with  real 
affection  and  gratitude. 

"  Oh,  to  think,"  she  said,  "  that  you  must  disclose  my 
necessities,  my  lovely  boy,  to  your  mother  and  your 
brother's  wife  ;  it  will  kill  my  pride  forever." 

"  I  never  will  betray  you,"  Hal  Priestley  whispered  ; 
"  I'll  honor  and  marry  thee,  if  thou  wilt." 

"  God  grant  it  !  "  said  the  woman,  as  she  was  drawn  to 
his  chaste  and  maiden  breast. 

When,  after  long  delay,  Harry  Priestley  entered  the 
sitting-room  of  his  family  again,  he  regarded  Colonel 
Hamilton,  entertained  with  honor  there,  as  if  he  were  no 
longer  welcome. 


22  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  I  hear  that  you  came  from  some  other  land,"  re 
marked  Lizzie  Priestley  to  Hamilton.  "  Pray,  what  was 
it  like  ?  " 

"  Like  a  graceful  volcano,  all  wooded  and  planted  from 
the  sea,  which  circles  it,  to  the  serene,  unclouded  sky. 
Columbus  named  it,  from  its  whitish  cap,  Nieves,  or  The 
Snows  ;  the  commoner  people  there  call  it  Mevis,  but  the 
planters  name  it  Nevis,  from  its  resembling  the  highest 
mountain  in  Scotland,  whence  my  father  came,  like  many 
Hamiltons  before  him  ;  and  he  settled  in  Saint  Christo 
pher's  Island,  only  two  miles  from  Nevis,  across  a  narrow 
strait.  There  my  mother  removed,  and  found  my  father  ; 
and  there  he  still  lives,  a  poor,  old,  lonely  man." 

"  And  you  so  high  in  this  rising  government  ?  "  spoke 
the  British  bride,  warmly.  "  Why  can't  you  bring  him 
here  ? " 

"  Alas  !  "  replied  Hamilton,  "  I  am  often  twitted  my 
self  with  being  '  sheltered  '  here.  If  I  should  bring  my 
poor  father  it  would  be  said  that  I  supported  him  on  this 
government." 

"  Have  you  not  plenty  of  patronage,  and  a  gentleman's 
salary?" 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  there  may  be  a  hundred  appointments  under 
the  Treasury  Department,  and  I  get  a  salary  of  seven 
hundred  pounds  ;  my  Assistant  Secretary  gets  three  hun 
dred." 

"What !  "  exclaimed  Lizzie  Priestley,  rising  to  her  feet 
and  looking  at  her  husband.  "  Joe,  this  is  not  an  honest 
nation  ! " 

"  No  house  to  live  in  ?  "  asked  Joe — adding,  when 
Hamilton  had  shaken  his  head,  "  Great  King  !  why, 
father  got  as  much  as  that  from  Lord  Shelburne,  and 
a  house  free  besides  ;  and  he  was  in  the  light  of  a  ser 
vant." 

"  Oh  !  "  cried  Hamilton,  gayly,  "  I  shall  go  back  to  law 
some  time,  and  make  a  good  living." 

"  Your  mother  lives  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Priestley.  "  And 
was  she  Scotch,  too  ?  " 

•'She  died  in  my  childhood,"  Hamilton  answered,  with 
feeling,  "  and  took  away  all  heaven  with  her  until  God 
gave  me  my  wife.  No,  Mrs.  Priestley  ;  my  mother  was 
French,  and  I  am  like  the  Queen  of  Scots,  of  a  French 
mother  and  a  Scottish  father.  About  those  Windward 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  23 

Islands  of  the  remoter  West  Indies  I  made  my  living  as 
a  shipping-clerk  till  I  was  fifteen,  when  my  poor  mother's 
kin  discovered  me." 

"  How  was  that  ?  "  young  Harry  asked,  his  interest  dis 
sipating  his  prejudice. 

"  Why,  my  boy,  I'm  glad  you  have  asked  me,  because 
your  situation  was  my  own.  A  tornado  struck  the  Wind 
ward  Islands,  as  a  tornado  has  struck  your  father's  fort 
unes  ;  I  saw  the  tornado  when  much  younger  than  you 
are  now,  and  after  it  was  over  I  wrote  its  description, 
which  I  published  in  a  newspaper.  A  little  imagination 
among  plain  and  limited  people  brings  friends  and  foes. 
The  reason  I  did  not  enter  Franklin's  residence  with  you 
to-day  was  because  its  mistress  is  one  of  those  West 
Indian  foes  :  a  lady,  the  wife  of  the  philosopher's  grand 
son  ;  she  comes  from  St.  Kitt's,  and  knows  my  father." 

"  But  your  friends  ?  "  Joseph  Priestley  broke  in. 

"  Why,  they  thought  I  ought  to  have  an  education — 
the  good  old  Presbyterian  clergyman  told  them  so — and 
they  sent  me  to  North  America,  where  I  am  still  poor  and 
still  a  writer." 

"  Poor  compensation,  Alexander,"  said  mother  Priestley, 
with  motherly  plainness ;  "but  thy  youthful  face  shows 
thou  hast  congenial  tasks." 

"  And  what  is  nobler,"  Lizzie  Priestley  spoke,  "  than  to 
plant  in  this  great,  fertile  western  world  the  roots  of  a 
permanent  state,  to  shelter  the  fleeing  millions  of  the  just 
and  the  lowly  ?  King  David's  temple  was  no  more  to 
this  than  father  Priestley's  burnt  meeting-house  in  Bir 
mingham." 

Hamilton's  eyes  shone  with  admiration  and  thankful 
gratitude  for  this  kindred  joy  in  his  achievements  by  one 
he  already  felt  to  have  his  confidence. 

"  My  wife  met  me  in  the  camp,"  said  he  ;  "she  felt 
for  my  ambition  as  you  do,  madame  ;  I  was  nothing  but 
a  captain,  but  she  loved  me  ;  and  often  as  we  worked  to 
gether  at  midnight,  man  and  wife,  we  could  hear  the 
breathing  of  General  Washington,  where  he  slept  in  the 
adjoining  room,  and  stopped  to  listen  as  if  it  was  the 
breath  of  God.  To  be  his  friend  and  companion  and  to 
serve  him  to  the  end  is  the  wealth  I  would  leave  my 
children  and  my  country." 

He  rose  to  go. 


24  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Stop,  Alexander,"  spoke  Mrs.  Priestley,  plainly. 
"  Father  is  not  here,  and  we  hear  him  read  at  this  time 
of  the  Sabbath  evening  something  from  the  Scripture. 
Will  thee  take  his  place  ? " 

Hamilton  took  the  book  and  opened  it.  He  started  as 
if  to  read,  and  checked  himself. 

"  I  am  not  worthy  to  read  this  book  to-night,"  he  ex 
plained.  "  At  another  time  I  may  feel  that  I  can  do  so. 
Your  daughter  will  read  it  for  me,  I  know." 

He  handed  the  Bible  to  Lizzie  Priestley. 

When  she  had  read  the  lesson  they  heard  a  sob,  and 
saw  Hamilton's  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

He  gave  them  his  hand  without  taking  leave  by  words, 
and  left  them  wondering  at  his  sweetness  and  unexplained 
sensibility. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BURR. 

As  Hamilton  reached  his  own  door  a  voice  at  the  step 
called  him,  and  he  turned  and  confronted  Colonel  Burr. 

"  I  have  been  waiting  for  you,  Mr.  Hamilton,"  said  the 
junior  Senator  from  New  York  ;  "the  opportunity  we  had 
at  Doctor  Priestley's  suggested  many  things  of  mutual 
advantage." 

Hamilton  had  a  dislike  of  this  man,  not  unmixed  with 
superstition,  and  yet  was  too  prudent,  as  his  constituent, 
to  show  offence. 

"  Come  in,  Colonel  Burr  ;  I  have  a  very  sick  child  here, 
and  can  show  you  but  scant  hospitality." 

He  repaired  to  another  chamber,  and  when  he  returned 
was  all  disarmed  for  subtle  controversy. 

"  I  feel  for  you,  Hamilton,"  said  Burr,  with  deference, 
seeing  the  Minister's  grief;  "all  which  unites  me  to  the 
past  is  my  only  child.  How  many  coincidences  should 
bind  you  and  me  together  !  We  were  both  orphans,  both 
on  the  commanding  general's  staff,  both  married  in 
Albany ;  you  are  not  one  year  younger  than  I  ;  we  were 
the  leaders  of  the  bar  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  here 
we  are,  some  years  under  forty,  both  high  in  this  govern 
ment." 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  25 

"  We  have  frequently  conducted  causes  together,"  said 
Hamilton,  u  and  without  antagonizing." 

"  Not  outwardly  ;  but  there  has  been  a  reserve — I  may 
say  a  distrust,  and  it  has  not  been  on  my  part.  I  know 
too  well  the  transcendent  talents  I  confront  to  suppose  it 
ever  necessary  for  them  to  deceive  me  or  to  fear  me." 

"  Omit  the  language  of  flattery,"  sighed  Hamilton, 
*•'  because  I  am  humbled  and  in  sorrow.  We  probably 
know  each  other,  and  may  be  frank." 

"  Colonel,  it  will  do  for  these  timid  civilians,  like 
Jefferson  and  Randolph,  to  do  battle  with  whispering 
and  chicane  and  women's  arts  ;  but  we  are  of  the  school 
of  war,  and  our  disputes,  if  made  chronic  by  time,  mean 
danger,  especially  as  we  inhabit  the  same  city  and  have 
the  mettlesome  following  of  our  old  soldiery.  My  errand 
to-night  is  not  to  accuse  you,  but  to  forgive  you,  Ham 
ilton." 

"Sir?" 

"  Is  it  not  to  you  that  I  owe  the  rejection  of  my  name 
for  the  French  mission — rejected  not  once,  but  twice, 
after  it  had  been  offered  to  my  party  and  they  had  unani 
mously  presented  my  name?" 

"  No.  It  was  not  necessary  for  me  to  interfere,  even 
if  I  had  been  hostile  to  you." 

"  Then  it  was  Washington  alone  ?  " 

"  You  forget,  Colonel  Burr,  that  I  am  his  confidential 
Minister." 

Aaron  Burr  quietly  crossed  his  black  stockings. 

"Your  denial  is  ample,"  said  he,  recovering  equa 
nimity  ;  u  the  President,  however,  does  himself  no  credit 
sending  that  goose  Monroe  to  the  most  gallant  capital  in 
Europe  at  a  time  when  finesse  would  give  America  the 
great  advantage  of  a  century.  You  well  know.  Colonel 
Hamilton,  that  I  am  better  qualified  for  such  work  than 
the  ci-devant  Lieutenant  Monroe." 

"  I  did  not  approve  of  the  appointment  ;  it  was  forced 
upon  the  President  by  the  ungenerous  action  of  his  polit 
ical  opponents,  to  whom  he  desired  to  make  a  concession 
and  allow  them  to  be  represented  in  the  country  they 
pretended  to  favor." 

"  Hamilton,  I  did  not  expect  that  appointment.  My 
name  was  pressed  by  Jefferson,  who  inspired  Madison 
and  Monroe  from  Virginia  to  demand  it  for  me.  No 


20  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

man  can  follow  Jefferson's  tracks,  which  lead  everywhere. 
He  must  have  known  that  Washington  disliked  me,  and 
so  shook  us  in  each  other's  face." 

Hamilton's  eyes  looked  a  deepened  intelligence,  but 
he  seemed  also  dispirited. 

"  I  will  not  ask  you,"  said  Burr,  almost  playfully,  "  if 
it  was  really  Washington  who  forbade  me  to  consult  the 
State  Department  files  when  Jefferson  was  his  State  Min 
ister.  That  was  so  pointed  a  discourtesy  that  I  would 
have  challenged  any  other  man  than  Washington  for  it. 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  invited  me  there  ;  in  the  name  of 
Washington  he  ordered  me  out.  Was  that  not  Jefferson, 
also,  who  procured  the  order  ?  " 

"If  I  knew,  Colonel  Burr,  it  would  be  a  privileged 
secret.  I  do  not  know." 

"  I  only  ask  because  Mr.  Jefferson  has  often  expressed 
himself  to  Giles,  Mason,  and  others,  since  his  retirement, 
as  deeply  affected  to  have  been  the  instrument  of  that 
order,  and  they  have  apologized  to  me.  Yet  how  could 
the  President  have  known  who  visited  the  State  Depart 
ment  without  Jefferson's  information  ?  " 

He  glanced  at  Hamilton  with  his  large,  liquid  black 
eyes,  as  if  more  amused  than  exasperated  ;  but  there  was 
something  very  still  and  deadly  in  the  smile,  while  his 
white  teeth  stood  ajar. 

"  Colonel  Hamilton,"  he  resumed,  "  why  should  we, 
representing  a  fresh,  o'erwhelming  empire  like  New  York 
State,  be  ruled  by  these  Virginians  and  their  deft  tongues 
and  shallow  acquirements  ?  Here  is  the  stupid  and  illit 
erate  Monroe  shoving  out  your  friend,  Gouverneur  Mor 
ris,  at  France.  They  have  prepared  to  crucify  Chief- 
Justice  Jay,  no  matter  what  form  of  English  treaty  he 
makes.  My  sympathies  extend  to  you,  my  opponent, 
in  the  pitfalls  they  dig  for  you  every  night,  and  the 
slander  they  placard  upon  you  every  morning  ;  for  they 
mean  to  pull  you  out  from  under  Washington,  and  let 
him  fall  by  his  own " 

"  Don't  finish  that*  sentence,"  spoke  Hamilton,  qui 
etly,  raising  his  finger.  "  I  have  not  invited  your  confi 
dence,  and  you  must  spare  him  whose  confidence  is  my 
honor." 

"  It  is  no  matter,"  resumed  Burr,  checking  himself 
firmly.  "  The  death  of  my  wife  has  set  me  adrift  for 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  27 

new  combinations.  I  have  a  hold  in  South  Carolina,  and 
intend  to  strengthen  it  ;  if  we  could  agree,  I  can  also 
hold  the  State  of  New  York  ;  for  I  am  a  politician  like 
Jefferson,  and  make  no  pretence  to  economics  and  finance, 
where  you  are  supreme.  My  bailiwick  is  the  city  of 
New  York,  where  I  am  the  first  organizing  politician 
under  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  it  will  soon  determine 
the  whole  State.  Let  us  join  ;  I  will  be  your  politician, 
you  shall  be  my  statesman." 

"  How  is  that  possible  ?  "  asked  Hamilton,  slowly. 

Colonel  Burr  drew  his  chair  nearer  Colonel  Hamilton  ; 
they  were  nearly  evenly  sized,  both  of  military  shoulders 
and  erect  carriage,  both  of  delicate  frame  and  limbs,  both 
sinewy,  both  intellectual. 

Burr  was  the  more  beautiful,  with  the  rich  tints  of  the 
black  serpent,  that  a  child  would  covet  to  take  up,  as  a 
man  would  not. 

As  he  unfolded  his  plans  it  seemed  to  Hamilton  like 
the  unfolding  of  glittering  coils,  and  the  Minister  of 
Washington  watched  Burr's  dark  splendor  with  blue 
eyes. 

"  It  is  not  easy  for  one  of  my  confidence  and  descent," 
resumed  Aaron  Burr,  with  heightened  energy  but  even 
a  quieter  tone,  "  to  make  the  concession  I  have  made  to 
you — that  you  are  my  master  in  political  science.  It 
should  be  otherwise,  for  my  mother's  father  had  the 
greatest  head  since  Calvin.  Permit  me  to  recoup  myself 
with  the  conceit  that  I  am  your  master  in  the  manipula 
tion  of  the  multitude." 

"There  you  are  Pericles  himself,  Colonel  Burr." 

Colonel  Burr  inclined  his  head  and  grew  more  con 
siderate,  almost  fond. 

"  Not  that  you  do  not  possess  a  sweeping  ken  of  the 
springs  of  human  motive,  Hamilton,  and  can  incline  the 
exalted  and  considerate  to  your  purpose.  Who  else 
went  to  Washington  a  boy,  and  now  guides  him  like  a 
man  ?  " 

"  All  this  I  disclaim,"  insisted  Hamilton,  "  and  can 
not  accept  your  candid  opinion.  If  I  had  any  ore  of 
genius,  the  contact  of  that  pure  essence,  like  Mercury's, 
seized  and  refined  it." 

Aaron  Burr  looked  at  Hamilton  with  a  directness  and 
penetration  he  never  repeated  but  once  again  in  this 


28  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

world ;  it  was  his  last  suspicion  of  Hamilton's  entire 
candor. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  finally,  "  I  suppose  it  is  like  love,  and 
can  see  no  defects.  But  we  are  to  outlive  all  these  peo 
ple  and  descend  to  the  middle  of  the  coming  century. 
Our  combinations  must  be  made  with  long  foresight. 
New  York  is  ruled  by  great  families,  that  will  have 
neither  Burr  nor  Hamilton.  The  Livingstons  and  Clin 
tons  hate  you,  both  as  a  stranger  and  a  Schuyler  ;  they 
put  me  in  the  Senate  to  put  your  father-in-law  out.  At 
this  moment  the  Clintons  are  using  me  to  break  the  Liv 
ingstons  in  the  city,  but  they  will  turn  upon  me  also,  by 
and  by.  What  do  the  Van  Cortlandts  and  Jays  care  for 
you,  after  you  have  put  their  enemies  under  their  feet  ? 
These  aristocratic  families  would  hang  us  both,  as  they 
hanged  Leisler  and  Milborne,  for  presuming  to  govern 
them.  They  have  got  little  Ned  Livingston  and  young 
De  Witt  Clinton  all  ready  to  challenge  us  to  run  their 
Dutch-Indian  gauntlet  to  our  stake." 

"  You  must  not  assume  that  I  assent  by  following  you, 
Colonel  Burr.  How  could  we  ever  work  together  to 
any  mutual  or  disinterested  end  ? " 

"  By  separating  all  interests  of  jealousy.  I  will  make 
you  President  of  the  United  States  ;  you  can  give  me 
the  Army,  or  send  me  abroad  upon  a  mission,  or  I  will  be 
your  Governor  of  New  York." 

"  But  you  forget  that  you  are  not  a  Federalist,  and 
that  I  am." 

"  Pshaw  !  do  you  suppose  these  silly  Virginia  abstrac 
tions  put  me  into  the  opposition  ?  No  ;  I  went  with 
Washington's  opponents  because  I  would  have  been  given 
no  career  by  his  friends." 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  rose  and  put  his  hands 
beneath  his  quilted  coat-skirts,  and  his  long  Scottish  head 
was  slightly  bent  downward  as  he  walked  to  the  open 
window  of  his  narrow  library  and  breathed  the  tainted 
summer  air,  laden  with  the  heavy  inland  night. 

Aaron  Burr  followed  him  with  his  dark  eyes  and  ferret 
nose  and  upturned  chin,  sanguine  that  he  had  made  an 
impression. 

Hamilton  turned  in  a  moment,  and  walked  back  and 
lighted  two  candles  with  a  fusee.  He  sat  down  again 
and  leaned  back,  and  spoke  with  careful  considerateness  : 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  29 

"You  have  already  remarked,"  observed  Hamilton, 
"  that  General  Washington  is  obdurate  as  to  taking  you 
into  the  public  employment.  What  is  the  reason  ?  " 

"  I  was  awhile  on  his  staff  ;  I  was  rebellious  and  im 
patient,  I  suppose,  and  lost  his  confidence.  He  never 
gave  me  another  chance." 

"  That  is  strange,"  said  Hamilton,  still  looking  respect 
fully  at  his  visitor.  "  I  joined  his  staff  soon  after  you 
left  it,  and  remained  there  four  years,  and  then  parted 
from  Washington  in  anger  ;  but  he  gave  me  the  forlorn 
hope  at  Yorktown,  and  called  me  to  his  Cabinet." 

Colonel  Burr  raised  his  eyelids,  and  looked  at  Hamil 
ton  with  penetration  wreathed  in  a  smile. 

"  He  didn't  detect  you  in  any  amour,  did  he  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  answered  Hamilton. 

"  Well,  he  did  me.     That  finished  the  matter." 

"  I  never  heard  Washington  mention  it.  I  do  recol 
lect  something  of  the  kind  talked  about  on  the  staff." 

As  they  were  still  looking  at  each  other,  and  as  the 
junior  of  the  two  had  left  his  sentence  like  a  query,  Mr. 
Burr,  with  gayety,  broke  out  : 

"  I  am  afraid,  Hamilton,  you  are  Yankeeing  me,  as  we 
Connecticut  men  say  ;  but  you  shall  have  my  confession 
all  the  same." 

He  stroked  his  silken  gloves  and  recrossed  his  silken 
hose  upon  his  knee,  and  went  on  : 

"  I  was  only  twenty,  voluptuous  and  famished  for 
beauty,  after  leaving  Arnold  in  Canada,  when,  return 
ing  to  New  York,  I  found  the  society  all  demoralized 
by  the  armies  of  Howe  and  Washington  confronting 
each  other,  the  former  on  Staten  Island,  the  latter  on 
Manhattan  Island  and  the  opposite  mainlands.  Now, 
that  was  my  camping  ground,  and  to  everything  that 
was  young  and  wanton  I  found  my  way  ;  for  I  had 
been  reared  in  Elizabethtown  as  the  prince  of  Presby 
terian  orphans,  and  doubly  a  preacher's  son." 

"  Yes,  you  were  the  wonder  of  us  lads  at  the  board 
ing-school  there,  with  your  learned  descent  and  your 
fine  property  in  trust.  The  girls  were  taught  not  to 
slight  you,  Senator." 

"  There  was  one — a  Miss  Margaret  Moncrieffe — in 
dear  old  Elizabethtown.  Her  father  was  a  British 
major,  just  in  sight  where  the  blue  Staten  Island  hills 


30  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

stand,  only  two  miles  away  ;  yet  she  did  not  go  to 
him.  Do  you  know  why  ?  " 

"  Was  it  because  she  loved  Aaron  Burr  ?  " 

"  She  said  so.  At  my  intimation  she  wrote  to  Gen 
eral  Putnam  in  New  York,  asking  him  to  befriend  her. 
He  was  a  poor  penman,  but  a  hospitable  old  fellow, 
and  I  answered  the  letter,  being  at  the  time  in  his  mil 
itary  family." 

tl  Now  I  remember  ;  you  told  her  to  come  ? " 

"  What  else  ?  She  came,  and  was  my  prize.  Do  you 
wonder  that  ever  since  I  have  put  pleasure  before  ambi 
tion,  when  I  was  at  the  time  but  twenty  and  my  conquest 
not  yet  fourteen  ?  " 

"  Pitiful  heaven  !  " 

The  indignant  flash  from  Hamilton's  eyes  Mr.  Burr 
interpreted  to  be  the  ardor  of  envy,  and  he  lost  his  own 
self-control  in  the  reminiscence  of  pleasure. 

"  I  have  had  a  full  regiment  of  intrigues  since,"  said 
he,  "  but  none  that  I  managed  as  well  as  that.  The 
campaign  for  woman  is  swifter  than  Caesar's  conquests 
and  more  subtle  than  the  fine  arts  ;  every  movement  is 
sensitive  in  both  the  charmer  and  the  bird.  I  had  wooed 
and  won  this  not  unwilling  maid.  Ha  !  ha  !  Hamilton,  I 
used  Washington  himself  to  prolong  the  romance  and 
then  relieve  me  of  her." 

"  Used  Washington  in  such  a  cause  ?  " 

"  I  may  as  well  tell  you,  for  he  knows  it  now,  and  it 
is  probably  the  secret  of  his  hostility  to  me.  The  girl 
was  growing  burdensome  to  me,  and  I  wanted  her  father 
to  receive  her  back  ;  so  I  made  Washington  believe  that 
she  was  a  precocious  spy,  taking  the  number  and  dispo 
sition  of  his  troops,  and  expressing  them  in  the  *  language 
of  flowers,'  when  she  was  painting  a  bouquet  for  her  alien 
father." 

Colonel  Hamilton  sat  still  as  horror  would  have  him, 
and  while  he  feared  to  speak  lest  he  might  forget  the 
propriety  of  his  place,  a  wail  from  his  sick  child  pierced 
his  heart. 

"  Oh,  end  this  tale  !  "  he  spoke.  "  Nature  cries  out  for 
me— Senator  !  " 

"  It  is  ended  already.  What  did  ignorant  old  Putnam 
or  Surveyor  Washington  know  of  the  language  of  flow 
ers  ?  They  trusted  to  me,  child  of  Jonathan  Edwards 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  31 

and  of  the  Reverend  Burr  !  I  had  my  prize  sent  back 
to  King's  Bridge,  where  Mifflin  commanded — the  Gover 
nor  of  Pennsylvania  now — and  in  trie  safe  seclusion  of 
the  woods  and  bowers  love  put  out  of  my  head  the 
duties  of  a  staff  secretary  till  the  battles  were  done  and 
the  enemy  held  the  city.  I  lost  the  commander's  con 
fidence,  and  worse  than  that " 

"  Worse  than  that  ?"  echoed  Hamilton. 

"  Yes;  my  British  red-bird  told  Mifflin's  young  Quaker 
wife  that  I  was  insured  to  be  a  father,  and  Mifflin's 
wife  told  Madame  Washington.  I  hastened  to  send  the 
interesting  traitor  in  Washington's  barge  to  her  father  on 
Staten  Island,  lest  she  might  confirm  the  insinuation  to 
my  face,  before  the  commander." 

"  But  you  cannot  deny  it  now  ?  " 

"  Of  course  not,  for  she  has  run  a  great  London  career 
with  royal  dukes,  and  told  her  tale  upon  the  Town  in 
print — never  upbraiding  me,  speaking  of  me  tenderly  ; 
saying,  indeed,  that  had  I  been  faithful  she  would  have 
been  eternally  pure." 

"  And  do  you  wonder  that  Washington  would  not 
send  you  to  France  as  his  Minister  ?  " 

"  I  do.  A  reputation  for  gallantry  like  that  would  have 
been  my  decoration  there.  The  race  of  women  admire 
a  fine  man  for  such  misdeeds  as  mine,  and  never  have  I 
been  injured  by  one  of  that  obliging,  venal  sex." 

"  Surely  you  except  your  mother,  Colonel  Burr  ?  " 

"  My  mother  !  I  never  saw  her.  Therefore  I  am  not  to 
be  set  in  a  corner  by  that  hackneyed  sentiment.  My 
father  never  courted  her,  but  sent  for  her  as  for  some 
biblical  handmaiden,  and  married  her  at  the  inn,  half 
way  ;  and  ere  my  eyes  were  well  opened  both  parents 
died  ;  so  I  come,  like  Minerva,  from  the  brain  and  not 
from  the  breast.  I  know  your  mettle  too  well,  Hamil 
ton,  to  see  it  sublimate  this  social,  joyous  vanitas  de 
vanitatum  !  " 

"  What  act  of  mine,"  asked  Hamilton,  rising,  "  do 
you  consider  to  resemble  the  case  of  betrayal  of  a  child 
you  have  seen  fit  to  confess  to  me  ?  I  tell  you,  sir,  that 
if  President  Washington  knows  and  believes  what  you 
say  of  yourself,  he  would  not  have  the  hardihood  to 
relate  it  to  me  ;  we  should  blush  before  each  other  to 
share  such  a  confidence  !  " 


32  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

As  Hamilton  rose,  flushed  and  severe,  Colonel  Burr, 
who  had  already  stood  up,  in  the  confidentiality  of  his 
narrative,  backed  a  step  before  his  host  and  took  his 
own  cocked  hat  up  from  the  writing-table,  and  put  it  on 
his  head. 

"  By  the  way  you  look  at  me,"  said  Burr,  "  I  think 
we  must  have  been  exchanged  in  our  childhoods  at 
Elizabethtown,  for  you  seem  to  be  the  pastor's  son, 
ready  to  sermonize  me,  and  I  the  hot  West  Indian,  re 
lating  pleasure  with  the  freedom  of  the  tropics  ! " 

A  cry,  repeated  and  repeated,  came  from  the  sick 
child's  chamber. 

"  I  won't  detain  you,  my  dear  fellow,"  cordially  con 
cluded  Hamilton's  guest  ;  "  the  sigh  of  a  child  always 
touches  my  heart.  Only  let  me  say,  before  I  go,  that  I 
know  you  better  than  you  think.  I  am  the  attorney  for 
Maria  Reynolds,  plaintiff  against  James  Reynolds  in  an 
action  for  divorce — Alexander  Hamilton  summoned  by 
both  plaintiff  and  defendant  as  a  witness.  As  I  said 
before,  I  shall  give  you  time,  for  we  must  be  friends." 

Hamilton  had  already  settled  into  a  chair  and  dropped 
his  brow  into  his  palm. 

Colonel  Burr  stole  away  without  tramp  or  echo. 

Hamilton  sat  thus,  with  his  high  brain  working  under 
the  reinforcement  of  blood  from  his  heart,  till  he  felt  a 
hand  upon  his.  neck. 

"  Almighty  God  !  "  he  sighed,  "  has  my  act  of  folly 
dragged  me  to  the  depth  of  shame  like  that,  and  made 
me  low  enough  for  that  friendship  !  " 

A  woman's  lips  kissed  him,  unnoting  what  he  spoke, 
and  he  heard  his  wife's  voice  say  : 

"  Husband,  little  Phil  is  sleeping  now.  Washington 
has  been  here  to  see  him.  His  fever  is  broken." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE     WASHINGTONS. 

PRIESTLEY  was  taken  by  Edmund  Randolph  and  the 
President's  secretary,  Tobias  Lear,  to  call  upon  Wash 
ington. 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  33 

They  came  to  a  large,  double  mansion  of  two  full 
stories  and  two  dormitory  stories  besides,  with  garden 
walls  and  large  carriage  gate,  and  with  shade  trees  and 
stabling  back. 

"  Here  is  the  President's,"  said  Mr.  Lear  ;  <%  it  was 
the  house  of  Robert  Morris,  and  before  that  of  the  Penn 
family." 

As  he  unlocked  the  door,  Doctor  Priestley  took  in  at 
a  glance,  and  upon  highly  elated  senses,  the  old  black 
bricks  and  stately  door  lamps,  the  pedimented  lower 
windows  and  portal  not  in  the  middle,  and  large  elm-trees 
behind  the  flanking  walls. 

He  saw,  down  the  middle  of  the  wide  High  Street,  in 
one  direction  the  distant  market-sheds  denned  against 
the  floody  Delaware,  and  in  the  other  the  lines  of  pop 
lar  trees  cease  at  the  vacant  country  lots  beyond  the 
Central  Commons  and  leave  the  Schuylkill  hills  in  the 
vista. 

The  impending  presence  of  General  Washington  gave 
Priestley  a  quickness  of  the  breath  ;  for  every  great 
reputation  in  Europe  the  Revolution  had  already  de 
throned,  and  left  this  magistrate  the  solitary  sanctity  in 
an  age  of  overthrow. 

Mr.  Lear  ushered  them  into  a  hall  ornamented  with 
a  bust  of  the  late  Louis  XVI.  of  France  ;  as  they  dis 
posed  of  their  hats  and  canes,  he  said  : 

"  Genet  came  in  here  with  me,  and  seeing  that  bust, 
remarked  that  it  was  an*  insult  to  France  for  Washing 
ton  to  maintain  it." 

The  parlor  door,  to  the  right  of  the  entrance,  was 
thrown  open,  and  Priestley  was  ushered  in.  At  the 
same  time  the  sound  of  singing  and  a  piano  came 
forth. 

As  the  three  persons  entered,  the  same  white  servant 
who  had  ushered  them  in  lighted  candelabra,  and  there 
emerged  from  the  darkness  a  little  family,  the  centre  of 
which  was  a  long-limbed  man  contending  with  a  small 
boy  who  would  not  get  off  his  foot. 

A  pretty  miss,  who  had  been  singing,  with  a  female 
companion,  at  the  harpsichord,  drew  the  boy  off,  as  he 
cried  "  Harkaway  !  " 

"  Mr.  President,"  spoke  Edmund  Randolph,  his  grand 
manner  and  his  halting  speech  being  resumed  together, 


34  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Doctor  —  ah  —  Doctor  Joseph  —  ah  —  yes  —  Joseph 
Priestley,  desired  to  be — uhm — presented.  Presented, 
as  he  passed  through  the  city  to  the — achew  !  achew  ! 
—  to  the — yes — Susquehanna.  The  Susquehanna  ! 
Mr.  Lear  and  myself  —  ah  —  took  the  —  uhm  —  the 
liberty." 

His  voice  rolled  so  nobly  through  the  saloon  that  his 
hesitation  was  forgiven. 

The  long-limbed  man  had  risen — a  military  figure  in 
black  summer  clothing,  with  hose,  ruffles  and  powdered 
hair  all  equally  white,  and  as  he  reached  out  a  large, 
warm  hand  to  clasp  the  doctor's,  his  face  looked  down 
at  the  latter,  in  kindness  and  penetration  together, 
through  the  bluest  eyes  Priestley  had  ever  seen,  while 
the  strong  jaws  of  Washington  and  large  nose  some 
what  altered  the  mild  and  amicable  expression  of  his 
orbits. 

Doctor  Priestley,  nearly  of  Washington's  own  age, 
endeavored  to  estimate  and  contain  the  great  person 
age  before  him,  with  the  literary  greed  of  so  rare  an 
interview  ;  but  after  it  was  over  he  retained  such  an 
impression  of  Washington  as  of  his  own  half-identified 
oxygen — something  which  exhilarated  and  brightened 
while  it  lasted,  but  was  by  his  own  groping  analysis 
made  a  mystery. 

Without  speaking,  mastering  his  guest  by  considera 
tion  and  silence,  President  Washington  resumed  his 
chair  after  the  doctor  had  been  seated  by  Mrs.  Wash 
ington,  who  said  : 

"  Doctor,  we  heard  that  you  were  in  the  city,  and 
your  coming  to  America  has  been  known  to  none  more 
than  General  Washington.  I  shall  take  advantage  of 
his  diffidence  and  tell  you  that  long  before  he  left 
Mount  Vernon  and  private  life  he  set  my  son  lessons 
from  your  book  on  Perspective." 

Washington  smiled,  barely  unclosing  his  somewhat 
mastiff  mouth,  and  Priestley  saw  that  in  that  barbarous 
age  of  dentistry  some  mechanic  had  spoiled  his  teeth. 
The  poor  doctor's,  too,  were  nearly  useless  at  sixty- 
one. 

A  little  mischief  was  in  Washington's  twinkle  as  he 
regarded  his  wife.  His  warm  skin  was  now  warmed  to 
something  like  a  young  man's  blush. 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  35 

"  Help  me  out,  Doctor  Priestley,  if  I  have  made  a 
mistake,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Washington.  "  I  see  the  Presi 
dent  laughing  at  something  ;  was  it  not '  Perspective  '  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  put  in  the  delightful  spirit  of  grace  and  youth 
which  had  been  playing  the  piano  ;  "  for  Theodosia  and  I 
are  drawing  from  it  now.  Are  we  not,  Theo  ?" 

"  Indeed  we  are,"  answered  Miss  Theodosia  Burr,  who 
soon  became  known  to  Priestley  as  Senator  Burr's  daugh 
ter.  "  Mr.  Lear  taught  it  to  Nelly,  and  my  father  said  I 
must  learn  it,  too,  because  the  weak  side  of  the  female 
intellect — so  papa  said — was  the  mathematics." 

"  I  feel  gratified,"  observed  Priestley,  with  a  happy 
flutter  of  self-appreciation,  "  to  have  had  General  Wash 
ington  among  my  scholars,  and  I  think,  madame,  that  I 
can  account  for  his  quizzing  you  on  the  ground  that  your 
excellent  memory  was  a  proof  of  your  early  affection." 

The  President's  benevolent  eyes  were  turned  upon  his 
wife  with  the  same  cordial  glow  of  feeling. 

"  He  would  have  made  a  great  school-teacher,"  said 
Mrs.  Washington,  whose  profile  was  not  unlike  the  Presi 
dent's  own,  as  she  enlivened  with  her  confidence  her 
husband's  passive  influence.  "  I  think  I  never  was  as 
happy  as  when  my  husband  directed  my  children's  tasks. 
The  country  called  him  away,  and  I  lost  them  all.  And 
now  he  is  having  my  son's  orphan  children  educated 
under  his  own  eye." 

She  called  them  forwrard — Eleanor  and  Washington. 
The  girl  courtesied  and  glided  to  her  grandfather's  side; 
the  boy  hung  his  head,  and  suddenly  raised  it  and  cried 
at  Priestley  : 

"  I  know    vou  ;  vou   make   soda-water.       Make    some 


nowT 


He  ran  away,  sharing  in  the  loud  laughter  his  sally  had 
caused  ;  but  Doctor  Priestley  drew  him  back  and  exhib 
ited  his  skill  with  children  by  telling  the  story  of  making 
mineral  waters  by  art. 

The  President  and  all  listened  pleasurably,  and  now 
Washington  asked  a  question  : 

"  I  will  inquire  of  you  if  the  mathematics  have  received 
any  new  impetus — like  the  invention  of  logarithms,  for 
instance  ?  " 

Doctor  Priestley  proceeded  to  unroll  himself,  so  to 
speak,  upon  an  occasion  of  so  great  contact,  and  re- 


36  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

lieved  his  memory  of  the  long  issue  between  Newton  and 
Liebnitz  as  to  which  had  discovered  calculus  and  flux 
ions,  and  this  the  doctor  illustrated  by  his  own  grievance 
against  Lavoisier. 

General  Washington  alone  listened  to  the  end,  while 
the  young  misses  were  joined  by  the  general's  two 
nephews — sons  of  his  sister,  Mrs.  Lewis  ;  and  Tobias  Lear 
went  over  to  them  and  became  as  a  child  in  their  inter 
course. 

The  same  servant  as  before  brought  in  tea,  cold  tongue 
and  toast  upon  waiters,  so  that  the  good  doctor  was  not 
disturbed  in  his  discourse. 

He  lamented,  at  the  end,  that  instead  of  using  his  eyes 
and  ears  to  draw  Washington  out,  he  had  consumed  the 
most  valuable  time  of  his  life  in  an  argument. 

"  I  stopped  at  logarithms,"  said  General  Washington, 
neither  tired  nor  greatly  interested.  "  The  mathematics 
were  just  opening  to  me  as  the  true  language  of  the 
imagination  when  I  was  called  to  domestic  and  public 
life." 

He  remarked,  to  another  inquiry: 

"  The  most  we  can  expect  in  the  present  administra 
tion  is  to  settle  the  groundwork  of  our  government,  es 
tablish  the  true  methods  of  business  in  the  departments, 
set  up  the  law  of  mutual  obligation  ;  and  if  party  spirit 
shall  finally  prevail,  we  hope  to  leave  the  executive  divi 
sion  solid  as  a  fortress,  requiring  no  correction  of  its 
angles  and  lines,  but  defensible  by  any  patriotic  garri 
son." 

A  mild  gleam  of  his  blue  eyes  fell  upon  his  Chief  of 
Cabinet. 

"Was  I  not  fortunate,  Doctor  Priestley,"  the  President 
said,  after  a  pause,  "  to  draw  into  my  first  Cabinet  three 
qualified  men  of  my  old  military  staff  ?  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  the  only  one  not  a  soldier.  Hamilton  and  General 
Knox  were  artillerists,  somewhat  mathematically  trained. 
Mr.  Randolph  did  not  stay  with  me  long,  but  he  gained 
a  better  scholarship  in  the  law  by  retiring  from  the  camp. 
Military  discipline  in  the  field  of  war  helps  the  moral  as 
well  as  the  mental  nature.  There  was  but  one  intrigue 
in  all  the  Revolution  in  our  army,  and  only  one  case  of 
treason  :  General  Arnold  probably  plotted  his  villany 
in  this  house.  Here  he  lived  in  debt  and  extravagant 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  37 

habits.  The  same  causes  are  at  the  foundation  of  the 
unnecessary  party  spirit  in  our  country." 

As  the  young  people  were  preparing  to  sing,  at  Mrs. 
Washington's  command,  there  were  ushered  into  the  salon 
(the  ladies  bonneted)  Vice-President  and  Mrs.  Adams, 
Mr.  Jefferson  and  his  lovely  married  daughter,  and  Con 
gressman  Madison  and  his  Philadelphia  bride. 

The  appearance  of  the  latter,  fresh  from  Virginia, 
whither  she  had  gone  to  be  married,  was  Doctor  Priest 
ley's  opportunity  to  see  how  little  formality  existed  in  the 
President's  household. 

Mrs.  Washington  ran  to  Mrs.  Madison,  and  throwing 
both  arms  around  her  neck,  kissed  her. 

General  Washington,  with  less  impetuosity,  but  no 
more  reserve,  repeated  the  greeting  upon  the  bride's  lips, 
and  taking  Madison's  two  hands,  called  him  "  James," 
and  drawing  him  to  his  breast,  said  : 

<4  Tardy  lover,  it  was  almost  too  late.  But  God  bless 
you  both  !  " 

The  salutation  was  repeated  with  Martha  Jefferson 
by  both  the  President  and  wife,  while  those  shook  hands 
with  Mr.  Jefferson  unreservedly. 

He  and  Madison  were  both  cold,  undemonstrative 
men,  the  latter  smallish  and  impersonal,  as  if  merely 
brought  along  accessory-like,  and  folding  his  hands  upon 
his  little  stomach,  he  seemed,  under  Jefferson's  straight 
figure,  to  be  the  curate  of  some  Highland  chieftain. 

"  Yes,"  cried  Mrs.  Madison,  a  lady  very  well  in  advance 
of  girlhood,  but  with  a  vivacity  like  beads,  that  seemed 
to  flash  all  over  her,  in  dark  eyes  and  ringletted  hair, 
high  color,  teeth  and  hat,  hands  and  parasol,  all  moving 
and  ducking  and  darting  at  once — "yes  ;  I  have  made 
him  a  Benedict !  He  didn't  want  to  come,  but — ha  !  ha  ! 
ha  ! — I  thought  he  was  too  kind  to  be  a  bachelor.  Dear 
President,  dear  cousin  Martha,  dear,  darling  Nelly  and 
Theodosia  !  And  Larry  Lewis  here,  too  ?  and  his  dear 
brother  Bobby  ?  Come,  all,  and  kiss  your  dear  cousin 
Dolly  !  " 

The  tones  of  Mr.  Adams  were  heard  in  the  midst  of 
this  female  and  family  gratulation,  snappishly  : 

"Well,  I  thought  I  was  somebody  in  Massachusetts. 
I  can't  expect  to  be  anybody  in  Philadelphia  !  Abigail, 
I  told  you  this  Vice- Presidency  was  a  mere  shadow — a 


38  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

neutrality,  at  that !  I  suppose  I  can  speak  to  Doctor 
Priestley,  and  not  be  observed  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Adams,  don't  be  jealous  at  your  time  of  life," 
chirped  up  the  Vice-President's  wife.  "  A  woman  can 
be  married  but  once  ;  very  prismatic  women,  as  dazzling 
as  Mrs.  Madison,  may  be  married  twice.  I'll  let  you 
kiss  her,  so  will  Madison." 

Mr.  Adams,  drably  dressed  like  a  Quaker,  his  short 
clothes  making  his  bald  head  and  round  stomach — the 
one  a  larger  reproduction  of  the  other — seem  shorter 
still,  heard  his  wife,  and  opened  his  mouth,  and  seemed 
yet  madder,  till,  as  everybody  broke  out  into  a  laugh,  he 
began  to  laugh,  too,  and  rushed  upon  the  bride  like  a 
boy  taking  a  forfeit  in  a  picnic  game,  and  the  demure 
bridegroom  pulled  him  off. 

"  I  am  evidence  that  John  Adams  is  not  forgotten," 
spoke  up  Doctor  Priestley  ;  "  for  this  very  day  I  wrote  a 
dedication  of  my  Lectures  to  him,  as  my  most  encourag 
ing  American  friend  since  Doctor  Franklin  died." 

"  There,  Mr.  Adams,"  said  his  wife  ;  "  I  told  you  some 
thing  great  would  happen  to  you  if  you  would  be  a 
little  more  volatile.  You  always  wanted  to  get  into  a 
book." 

"  Dear  me  !  I  am  in  luck  !  "  exclaimed  the  giddy, 
abbreviated  Vice-President,  hastening  to  thank  Priestley. 
"  Jefferson  said  he  wouldn't  come  here  without  me,  and 
he  broke  up  my  regular  Sabbath-reading  of  the  Apo 
calypse.  I  always  read  it  in  times  of  epidemics,  for  I 
think  '  the  time '  ought  to  be  '  at  hand,'  the  world  is 
getting  to  be  so  fearfully  perverse." 

"Mr.  Adams,"  remarked  his  wife,  composedly  laying  off 
her  lace  and  loosening  her  leghorn  hat-strings,  "pray 
don't  be  so  volatile.  Let  me  hear  some  Seventh  Day 
wisdom  from  Doctor  Priestley." 

"  I  am  real  glad  we  came  into  the  city,"  interjected 
the  tidy,  substantial,  observant  Mrs.  Washington.  "  You 
knoxv  we  are  spending  the  summer  at  Germantown.  but 
the  President  had  to  meet  his  Cabinet  to-night,  so  we  all 
ventured  to  ride  in  with  him." 

Colonel  Hamilton  now  entered  with  the  Attorney-Gen 
eral  and  Knox,  the  War  Minister. 

Hamilton  looked  pale  and  weary. 

The  President  and  wife  and  their  little  family  pressed 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  39 

upon  Hamilton  to  ask  for  "  Phil,"  his  boy.  When 
Washington  took  Hamilton's  hand,  it  was  with  some 
thing  of  that  glowing  look  he  had  given  his  wife  early 
in  the  evening. 

Jefferson  affected  not  to  see  this,  but  talked  of  agri 
culture  to  Mrs.  Adams,  who  said  : 

"  I  had  the  care  of  a  farm  during  the  whole  Revolu 
tion,  and  society  comes  as  gratefully  to  me  as  it  will  to 
you  again,  Mr.  Jefferson,  I  question  not,  when  you  are 
over  this  hobby." 

But  John  Adams  was  again  growing  uneasy  at  the 
lisping  words  of  Washington  :  "  Take  your  boy  into 
the  country,  my  dear  friend.  Had  I  children  like  you, 
they  would  be  the  world  to  me." 

As  Washington  remained  standing,  Doctor  Priestley 
felt  that  it  was  time  to  go,  for  he  foresaw  a  Cabinet 
Council. 

"Stay,  Doctor,"  interposed  Mrs.  Washington;  "the 
children  have  a  request  to  make.  In  the  days  of 
better  understanding  than  now,  when  our  government 
v/as  a  little  family  and  there  had  been  no  contentions  in 
it,  we  used  to  meet  like  a  family  and  have  some  music. 
Nelly  remembers  it  and  wants  Mr.  Jefferson  to  take  the 
violin  again,  and  Colonel  Hamilton  to  sit  at  the  harpsi 
chord." 

Mr.  Jefferson  protested,  but  was  persuaded.  Hamilton 
assented  at  once.  While  they  were  getting  ready,  Miss 
Theodosia  Burr  was  led  forward  by  Tobias  Lear  and  re 
cited  Mrs.  Barbauld's  "  Inventory  of  the  Furniture  of 
Doctor  Priestley,"  commencing  : 

"  A  map  of  every  country  known, 
With  not  a  foot  of  land  his  o\vn. 
A  list  of  folks  that  kicked  the  dust 

On  this  poor  globe,  from  Ptol.  the  First 

A  group  of  all  the  British  kings — 

Fair  emblem — on  a  packthread  swings 

A  shelf  of  bottles,  jar.  and  phial, 

By  which  the   rogues  he  can  defy  all — 

All  filled  with  lightning,  keen  and  genuine 

A  rare  thermometer,  by  which 
He  settles  to  the  nicest  pitch 
The  just  degrees  of  heat  to  raise 

Sermons,  or  politics,  or  praise 

New  books,  like  new-born  infants,  stand 
Waiting  the  printer's  clothing  hand 


40  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

And  all,  like  controversial  writing, 

Were  born  with  teeth  and  sprang  up  fighting. 

"  But  what  is  this,  I  hear  you  say, 
Which  saucily  provokes  my  eye  ? 
A  thing  unknown — without  a  name — 
Born  of  the  air  and  doomed  to  flame  !  " 

As  Priestley  heard  these  old,  familiar  sounds,  written 
by  his  wife's  dear  friend  and  descriptive  of  his  perished 
treasures  the  mob  had  burned,  he  sat  among  them  melted 
to  tears  of  precious  recompense  that  he  was  not  unknown 
in  this  centre  of  America's  society. 

"  My  dear,  brilliant  child,"  he  spoke,  rising  to  kiss  the 
little  miss  who  had  recited  them,  "  how  did  you  ever 
think  to  learn  those  lines  and  say  them  to  me  ? " 

"  Hush  !  "  answered  Theodosia,  whispering  in  his  ear. 
"  I  sat  up  nearly  all  night  to  commit  them.  Don't  tell 
on  me.  My  father  wants  me  to  be  very  ambitious,  and 
he  said  you  were  coming,  and  that  I  must  surprise  you." 

The  child  was  almost  convulsively  affected  as  she 
spoke,  clinging  to  Priestley's  fatherly  face. 

"  Tell  father,"  he  whispered,  "  not  to  push  his  child  too 
hard  ;  that  which  she  wants  is  love — perhaps  his  love." 

The  stronger  tears  that  flowed  down  Priestley's  face 
when  she  had  disengaged  it  were  not,  as  others  thought, 
the  tears  of  alien  reminiscence  ;  for  Priestley's  heart  had 
been  pierced  by  the  most  anguished,  most  stifled  sigh  he 
had  ever  heard  from  a  child. 

"  What  is  this  Colonel  Burr,"  he  wondered,  "  who  gives 
learning  to  his  offspring  when  it  sighs  so  hard  for  love  ? " 

But  now  the  harpsichord  was  ready,  and  Hamilton  had 
tried  the  keys  and  Jefferson  had  twanged  his  bow.  Those 
who  could  sing  in  the  choral  part  of  the  song — children 
and  women — gathered  round,  and  there  ascended,  in  a 
treble,  youthful,  hymnal  kind  of  mixture,  the  nervous 
energies  and  purposes  of  this  new  America,  of  which  so 
much  was  wilderness  to  be  subdued  : 

WORKERS'    HYMN. 
I. 

Hark  to  the  cocks  !    list  to  the  birds  ! 
Chirping  of  pleasure  too  liquid  for  words  ; 
Stilled  are  the  beetles,  the  night-hawk  has  fled. 
Pale  stand  the  stars,  and  the  East  it  is  rcu. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  41 


CHORUS. 

Sluggard,  in  slumber  why  dost  thou  lurk  ? 
While  it  is  day  get  thee  out  and  to  work  ! 
Light,  it  is  short  ;  and  why  dost  thou  irk? 
For  the  Night  cometh.  when  no  man  can  work. 

No  man  can  work, 

No  man  can  work  ; 
When  the  Night  cometh,  no  man  can  work. 

II. 

Soft  call  the  bells  to  thy  repasts : 
Eat,  and  thy  beasts  eat,  while  the  noon  lasts. 
Look  where  the  sun  droops  :  do  not  delay — 
Seed-time  is  ending  ;  be  up  and  away  ! 

CHORUS. 

Husbandman,  see  how  the  clouds  gather  murk  ; 
Call  to  thy  oxen  and  speed  to  thy  work  ! 
Leave  not  the  furrow  for  quibble  or  quirk — 
For  the  Night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work. 

No  man  can  work, 

No  man  can  \vork,  etc. 

III. 

Eve  falleth  near  ;  every  grain  maketh  ears. 
Precious  the  day  as  the  light  disappears. 
Plant  !  lest  the  mildew  come  like  the  crow, 
Black  as  the  midnight — when,  no  one  can  knovr. 

CHORUS. 

Night  is  the  time  for  the  foeman  to  lurk  ; 
Day  is  the  prime  for  the  good  man  to  work. 
Leave  to  the  bat  and  reptile  the  murk — 
If  the  Night  cometh,  no  man  can  work. 

No  man  can  work. 

No  "man  can  work,  etc. 

IV. 

Work  thou  the  works  of  the  Master  that  sent ; 
Work  in  the  light  of  the  bright  firmament. 
Sleep  in  the  dark  when  the  foe  goeth  past, 
Sowing  the  tares  to  be  burnt  in  the  blast. 


Night  is  the  time  when  the  demons  hold  kirk  ; 
Keep  thee  within  when  the  moon-witches  work  ! 
Let  not  the  sun  on  thy  slumbering  perk — 
For  the  Night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work. 

No  man  can  work, 

No  man  can  work,  etc. 


42  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

V. 

Fight  for  the  day,  like  Jacob,  aglow, 
Wrestling  the  angel — and  would  not  let  go  ; 
Light  was  the  ladder  that  Jacob  was  given, 
Lengthening  Day  to  the  threshold  of  heaven. 

CHORUS. 

Hands  that  are  idle  are  serpents  that  lurk  ; 
Life's  only  friend  is  the  spirit  in  work. 
Sons  of  the  morning  !  toil  never  shirk — 
For  the  Night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work. 

No  man  can  work, 

No  man  can  work  ; 
When  the  Night  cometh,  no  man  can  work. 

It  was  late  that  Sunday  night  when  the  President  went 
to  bed  and  covered  the  wood  fire  on  the  chamber  hearth 
with  ashes  that  it  might  not  all  die  out. 

"  Puss,"  spoke  he,  softly,  "are  you  asleep  ?" 

"  No  ;  I  never  sleep,  George,  till  you  come  to  bed  and 
kiss  me." 

The  old  general  leaned  over  his  wife  and  kissed  her 
twice. 

"  Oh,  you  politician!"  he  whispered.  "To  pretend 
that  you  pay  no  attention  to  such  things,  and  yet  have 
that  long  word  '  perspective  '  ready  for  Doctor  Priestley, 
and  a  compliment  !  " 

"  Now,  you  know  better,  George  !  That  was  the  word 
you  used  in  your  first  letter  to  me,  when  you  said  you 
saw  me  at  the  end  of  the  perspective,  looking  in  at  Mr. 
Chamberlayne's  colonnade,  and  that  you  fell  in  love  with 
me.  But  listen  :  Nelly  and  Lawrence  are  in  love — they 
have  already  quarrelled  and  made  up  !  It  is  something 
that  man  Jefferson  had  to  do  with.  Wherever  he  goes 
there  is  something  underneath." 

"Stop,  my  dear,"  said  Washington;  "it  is  not  fair 
that  any  public  man  or  citizen  should  have  against  him 
the  heavy  odds  of  the  President's  wife." 

He  lay  down  at  her  side,  and  for  some  time  could  not 
fall  asleep.  She  heard  him  say  to  himself,  finally  :  "Ham 
ilton  was  great  to-night." 

In  a  few  minutes  he  breathed  drowsily,  and  his  last, 
unconscious  words  were  : 

"Yes,  sir!     I  shall  march  with  my  army." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  43 

CHAPTER   V. 

CHILD    AND    CLIENT. 

"  So  Madame  Washington  received  you  like  one  of  the 
family,  Theo  ? " 

"  Just  the  same,  papa.  Oh,  they  are  lovely  people — 
Nelly  and  little  Wash,  the  Lewis  boys  and  Mr.  Lear. 
He  is  such  a  funny  man  !  " 

Colonel  Burr  took  up  a  Latin  book  and  turned  its 
leaves. 

"  Did  anybody  at  the  President's  ask  for  me  ?  " 

"  Not  one,  papa..  Oh,  yes  !  Robby  Lewis  spoke  of 
ytm." 

"  What  did  he  say?" 

Colonel  Burr's  daughter  blushed  and  hesitated. 

"  Come  here,  Theo  !  Do  you  see  this  Latin  grammar  ? 
Well,  I  am  looking  right  into  your  mind,  and  if  you  do 
not  say  that  off  to  me  without  mistake,  you  shall  read 
this  grammar  till  you  can  recite  twelve  pages  of  it  without 
one  error  !  " 

The  girl  trembled  before  her  father's  unfeeling  eyes, 
which  charmed  her  like  a  snake.  She  would  have  avoided 
her  confession,  but  those  eyes  seemed  to  overflow  from 
their  dark  pupils  and  run  into  her  nature  and  suffocate 
it.  As  she  gasped,  he  gave  her  the  military  order  : 

"  Attention  !  " 

Down  went  her  hands  to  her  side ;  her  shoulders  straight 
ened. 

"Eyes  front!  " 

Her  eyes  fluttered  and  rested  on  her  father's  smooth, 
stoic  face,  in  fear  and  love. 

"  Recite  !  "  finished  Senator  Burr. 

"Robby  Lewis,"  began  the  girl,  perfunctorily,  "is 
going  home  to  Virginia  unless — unless " 

"Mark  time!"  commanded  Colonel  Burr,  fixing  his 
eyes  upon  his  child  as  upon  some  raw,  common  soldier 
out  of  drill. 

The  girl's  left  foot  kept  military  time,  while  a  tear  ran 
down  her  cheek  that  she  dared  not  lift  her  hand  to  wipe 
away. 

"Theo,"  said  her  father,  his  face  relaxing,  "our  under- 


44  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

standing  is — perfect  confidence  ;  not  a  shadow  of  your 
nature  must  be  concealed  from  me.  To  me  you  are  not  a 
child,  nor  a  woman  neither  :  you  are  a  man  and  myself, 
all  that  I  have  left  and  all  that  I  shall  ever  love.  I  mean 
to  make  you  the  greatest  woman  of  this  age  ;  but  to  do 
so  your  nature  must  be  as  unreservedly  put  before  me  as 
before  your  mirror.  Come,  now,  and  kiss  me  !  " 

He  saw  the  welcome  light  of  ambition  spring,  like  the 
lunar  rainbow,  upon  a  spray  of  her  tears  ;  and  in  a 
moment  an  old,  unnatural  look  of  calculation  came  to 
her  face  that  was  delightful  to  Colonel  Burr. 

"  There,  it  is  my  brave  subaltern  now,"  the  father  ex 
claimed,  kissing  her,  as  he  would  forgive  the  hunting-dog 
he  had  disciplined.  "  How  can  I  cure  my  darling  if  she 
will  not  tell  me  her  pains  ?  Do  you  love  some  one, 
Theo?" 

"Yes,"  spoke  the  girl,  passionately.  "I  love  you— 
nothing  else." 

"We  will  love  no  others,"  responded  the  father,  in 
intellectual  fondness  that  was  like  the  radiance  of  the 
ruined  moon.  "Your  beauty  is  my  crown  jewel,  and 
nothing  less  than  a  crown  can  ever  become  it.  All  things 
here  are  fresh,  plastic,  ready  for  some  daring  hand  like 
that  of  Aaron  Burr.  But  the  new  world  is  worthless  to 
me  without  my  daughter,  to  give  it  to  her  when  I  have 
won  it.  Be  true  to  me  and  to  yourself,  and  tell  me 
everything." 

Theodosia  arose,  touched  her  face  with  water,  and 
said  : 

"  Do  not  correct  me,  and  I  will  tell  you  all  that  was 
said,  and  what  I  felt  besides — even  my  affections,  that  I 
must  learn  not  to  indulge,  papa.  Perhaps  if  I  tell  them 
to  you,  they  will  seem  unworthy  to  myself  now." 

She  began,  and  gave  her  father  all  the  scene  and  cir 
cumstance  at  the  President's,  in  excellent  mimicry  of  the 
principal  personages  there. 

She  told  of  her  recitation,  and  of  Priestley's  tender 
ness,  and  of  the  love  passage  with  General  Washing 
ton's  nephew.  Giying  way  to  her  feelings,  she  wept 
and  smiled  again,  and  rose  from  agony  to  caricature 
and  laughter. 

Her  father,  impressive,  insinuating,  dexterous,  and  at 
times  indelicate,  listened  to  her  sorrows  with  admiration, 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  45 

enjoying  them  like  her  wit,  and  noting  the  depth  of  that 
womanhood 'he  would  preserve  as  auxiliary  power  for 
the  master  strokes  of  diplomacy  when  artifice  might  fail. 

Back  in  the  paternal  origin  of  Aaron  Burr  was  a  Ger 
man  strain  which  labored  for  cold,  scientific  method,  and 
he  threw  everything  into  a  philosophic  scheme  which  had 
for  its  beginning  the  obliteration  of  the  natural  impulses. 
His  ambition,  even  his  propensities,  were  to  be  pursued 
without  involving  the  heart,  and  his  dream  of  supreme 
existence  was  to  have  his  daughter  love  him  entirely,  and 
have  her  heartless  to  all  besides. 

"  Father,"  finished  Theodosia,  "  I  have  told  you  my 
first  love  touch,  and  have  not  spared  my  tears— for  young 
people,  I  suppose,  would  naturally  love  each  other  if 
they  were  not  corrected.  Alston  has  been  with  old  peo 
ple;  his  talk  is  of  the  paddock,  the  race-track,  his  stakes 
on  games  and  his  herds  of  negroes.  Bobby  Lewis  talks 
of  his  mother,  and  her  goodness,  and  I  felt  his  tones  in 
my  heart.  Oh,  did  you  love  my  mother  ?  Did  not  some 
thing  stronger  than  wealth  or  position  break  down  your 
ambition  when  you  married  that  widow  with  no  estate 
but  children  ?  Is  there  not  something  of  that  impru 
dence,  father,  in  my  better  nature  ?  Can  I  be  happy  if  I 
do  not  love,  and  only  marry  where  you  tell  me  ?  " 

"  Your  happiness  will  be  in  your  children,  Theo. 
Love  and  marriage  are  mere  incidentals.  It  was  the  cul 
tivation  and  elegance  of  your  mother  which  drew  me  into 
an  inconsiderate  marriage.  I  was  only  twenty-six,  and 
her  oldest  boy  was  then  eleven.  But  I  came  of  a  race  of 
teachers  of  children,  and  upon  you,  child,  I  bestow  all 
their  art.  Master  Alston  has  power  in  the  last  Federalistic 
Southern  State.  You  will  be  in  your  prime,  little  queen, 
six  years  from  this  time,  when  the  change  of  dynasty 
comes,  and  may  help  your  father  more  than  you  know." 

Thus,  with  childhood  hardly  in  its  prime,  Theodosia 
had  been  manufactured  into  nearly  a  political  woman. 

As  she  rattled  along  in  fresh  confidences,  induced  by 
his  petting,  Colonel  Burr  examined  a  pistol  and  put  fresh 
priming  in  it,  and  hid  it  in  his  small-clothes.  Then  set 
ting  Theodosia  a  task,  to  draw  the  map  of  South  Carolina 
and  learn  the  names  of  Jts  districts  and  streams,  he  kissed 
her  au  revoir. 

At  the  little  State  Department  on  Third  Street,  Colonel 


46  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Burr  saw  a  crowd  reading  the  President's  fresh  procla 
mation  against  the  Western  insurrectionists. 

"  Little  Hamilton  is  a  nervy  fellow,"  thought  Burr,  as 
he  passed  Hamilton's  house  a  block  below,  at  Walnut 
Street.  "  Mifflin  has  refused  to  put  the  insurrection 
down,  and  the  United  States  is  going  to  do  it.  Twelve 
thousand  men,  too,  called  out.  Hamilton  is  not  afraid 
of  money  ;  the  army  will  cost  a  million,  and  the  Opposi 
tion  will  get  Pennsylvania." 

The  streets  a  little  way  beyond  began  to  show  dilap 
idation,  and  many  substantial  houses,  deserted  during 
the  epidemic,  were  filled  by  squatters  or  given  up  to  ten 
ants  at  will.  Toward  the  river  was  a  short  street  of 
once  noble  brick  mansions  in  medallioned  cornices,  now 
flaunting  from  their  upper  windows  clothes-lines  and 
clothes,  and  the  loiterers  of  both  sexes  at  marble  steps  or 
open  casements  suggested  some  Hanseatic  seaport  pur 
lieu  rather  than  the  Quaker  metropolis  of  a  new  world. 
Sailors  of  all  nations,  emigrants  of  all  degrees  came  and 
went,  and  Colonel  Burr  felt  relieved  when  a  sailors'  fight 
at  the  foot  of  the  street,  between  English  and  French, 
emptied  every  doorway  and  gave  him  unobserved  ad 
mission  to  a  broad  hall  which  ended  in  a  back  yard  filled 
with  old  junk  of  every  description — iron,  ship  tackle, 
copper,  and  several  hogsheads  of  what  seemed  to  be 
private  papers  and  letters. 

Colonel  Burr  stopped  by  these  and  drew  out  a  letter  or 
two  curiously,  and  glanced  at  their  contents. 

The  yard  of  the  next  house  back  was  open  from  this 
purlieu  yard,  so  that  one  could  pass  or  escape  from  the 
secluded  to  the  public  block.  Going  straight  through, 
Colonel  Burr  saw  in  the  second  hallway  a  small  sign  : 

"JACOB  CLINCH  AN:  MONEY  LENT,  GOODS  BOUGHT" 

"This  is  the  place,"  said  Colonel  Burr,  and  ascended 
naked  stairs  to  the  highest  story  and  knocked  upon  a  door. 

After  some  whispering  and  shuffling  of  feet,  the  door 
was  opened  by  a  particularly  large  man  with  a  menacing 
pair  of  eyes  which  were  yet  exceedingly  black  and  bright, 
and  his  cheeks,  which  had  high  J^ones  and  the  German 
contour,  were  of  a  rosy,  attractive  color.  He  had  pre 
served  this  Rubens-tinted  face  at  the  sacrifice  of  his 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  47 

shapeliness  ;  for  he  was  as  fat  as  a  Pennsylvania  tavern- 
keeper,  and  broad  as  a  giant,  and  his  large  feet  and 
hands  suggested  the  person  who  might  have  peddled  in 
the  heavy  junk  in  the  back  yard  below. 

For  a  moment  this  satyr  with  Cupid's  countenance 
gazed  at  the  respectable,  bland  figure  in  his  door,  as  if  to 
throw  it  down-stairs.  The  next  minute  his  eyes  shone 
acutely  and  his  neck  became  creased  with  almost  blush 
ing  dimples,  and  waves  of  fat  rolled  up  from  some  vast 
breadth  of  respiration  in  his  sailor-folded  collar. 

"  Colonel  and  Senator  Burr  ?  Now  I  know  that  this 
call  is  not  upon  Jake  Clingman,  but  upon  something 
suited  to  the  high  taste  and  accomplishments  of  his'n 
truly,  kA.  B.'  ' 

"  Clingman,  I  called  on  Mrs.  Maria  Reynolds,  at  her 
request." 

"  Come  in  !  Come  in  !  All  in  the  quartermaster's 
camp  is  your'n.  Mari  !  Mari  !  Come  nigh,  come  nigh. 
This  call  is  not  on  his'n,  but  on  her — from  your'n  truly, 
A.  Burr. " 

At  this  impromptu  poetry  Jacob  Clingman  squeezed 
his  cheek  bones  down  and  raised  his  cheek  dimples  up, 
and  so  produced  a  hundred  folds  and  creases,  from  the 
midst  of  which  his  dark  eyes  shone  with  humor,  and  also 
with  a  metallic,  devil-may-care  courage. 

Colonel  Burr  heartily  laughed,  yet  retained  his  self- 
poise  while  laughing. 

"  Clingman,"  said  he,  "you  are  the  same  old  Virginia 
Dutchman;  why  don't  you  give  a  public  entertainment  ?  " 

"  Simply,  Mr.  Burr,  because  Clingman  his'n  has  been 
at  least  once  in  prison.  Therefore  does  he  deal  in  shackles, 
ship  chains,  government  warrants  and  accommodation 
paper,  and  lies  dark  till  he  can  sit  down  on  them  ene 
mies  of  his'n — and  mash  'em." 

Saying  this,  with  a  voice  like  iron,  firm  and  high- 
inflected,  and  his  countenance  full  of  a  certain  rude, 
coarse  power,  Jacob  Clingman  again  gave  a  comic  leer 
as  he  dropped  into  a  great  cane-seated  chair,  and  made 
it  crack  and  groan  beneath  his  weight. 

Colonel  Burr  saw  that  somebody  had  been  playing 
cards  where  Clingman  sat,  and  drinking  ale  as  well;  for 
there  were  two  "  hands  "  upon  the  table  and  a  little  sil 
ver  mug  on  one  side,  and  a  stone  jug  by  the  host,  who 


48  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

unceremoniously  now  put   the  jug  to  his  lips,    without 
apology,  and  drained  it. 

"  By  the  great  green  spectacles  of  Lord  Fairfax  !  " 
exclaimed  the  cherubic  glutton.  "  Yes,  by  the  guinea 
pigs  of  Greenaway  Court  !  that  ale  was  good,  if  it  was 
brewed  in  spite  of  the  excise.  Now  I  say,  Colonel  Burr, 
what's  to  prevent  truly  his'n,  J.  Clingman,  from  getting 
a  sutlership  with  this  expedition  to  put  down  the  West 
ern  ensurraction  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  Clingman,  but  what  you  have  mentioned — 
your  having  been  in  prison  on  a  felonious  charge." 

"  And  I  suppose  that  would  lay  agin  me  ?  " 
' "  It  would    not   with  me,  necessarily  ;    it  would  with 
Washington — and   Hamilton,  who  will  control  the  expe 
dition." 

The  giant's  face  lost  its  bright  color  and  became  of 
the  pallor  of  jail  walls,  that  is  said  never  to  perma 
nently  leave  the  convict's  skin.  He  rolled  from  lungs 
like  a  blacksmith's  bellows,  oaths  that  had  the  power  of 
his  animal  temperament. 

"  What  did  I  do  to  be  black-listed  forever  ?  The 
government  had  a  pension  list  ;  of  course  it  owed  the 
money  to  its  Revolutionary  pensioners.  A  few  of  'em 
died,  but  they  didn't  keep  account  of  them.  Wasn't 
the  money  due  to  the  State  of  Virginia  ?  Wasn't  I  tryin' 
to  keep  it  thar  by  drawing  of  it  out  of  the  Treasury  ? 
They  called  my  signing  for  some  dead  pensioners  *  for 
gery,'  but  they  couldn't  make  it  out,  because  I  held  a 
power  of  attorney.  Then  they  tried  to  make  it  con 
spiracy  with  one  Jeems,  Reynolds,  and  said  I  had  bribed 
him  to  give  me  the  pension  list.  They  had  to  let  me  go, 
but  they  put  my  name  up  in  every  department  of  the 
government,  and  made  it  dismissal  to  recognize  his'n  and 
your'n  truly,  J.  Clingman." 

"  Yes,  Jacob,  it  was  I  who  beat  the  indictments  and 
got  you  off;  but,  my  athletic  friend,  I  have  forgotten  some 
of  the  particulars  of  your  origin.  Let  me  see — what 
was  it  ?  " 

"  Republican,"  said  Jacob  Clingman  ;  "  you  kin  gam 
ble  on  that.  My  father  was  a  Dutchman  from  somewhere 
in  Europe — he  didn't  bring  his  coat-of-arms— who  settled 
in  York  County,  Pennsylvany,  and  hired  hisself  and  his 
wagon  team  out  to  General  Braddock,  and  lost  every- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTO*.  49 

thing  but  his  life,  and  never  was  remunerated  by  the 
State.  He  stopped  in  the  valley  of  Virginia  and  enlisted 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolution.  All  he  got  for  that  was  a  cut 
over  the  head  and  the  scurvy.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
the  only  shelter  he  could  find  was  to  be  a  hostler  in  a 
tavern  in  the  Piedmont  country.  When  he  was  found 
dead  in  the  hay-loft  one  morning,  his  old  colonel,  Par 
son  Muhlenberg,  took  me  as  a  soldier's  brat  and  sent 
me  to  an  Old  Field  school.  It  wasn't  long  before  your'n 
truly  found  he  had  a  genius  for  a  swap  and  a  knack 
with  the  dice.  So  I  got  four  horses  and  a  coach  and 
made  the  grand  tour  with  a  sweat-cloth,  a  slave  nigger, 
and  a  sideboard  ;  now  flush,  now  broke — now  sparking  a 
planter's  daughter,  and  now  a  spell  in  a  debtor's  jail. 
From  horse  and  nigger  trading  I  took  to  politics  and 
contracting,  and  when  they  made  the  naytional  gov 
ernment  and  put  Freddy  Muhlenberg  in  the  speaker's 
chair  of  the  fust  Congress  at  New  York,  I  considered 
that  if  they  was  going  to  fund  the  State  debts,  maybe 
the  old  Braddock's  team  and  my  daddy's  dues  might 
come  in.  So  I  have  followed  every  Congress  from  New 
York  to  Philamaclink,  and  buy  claims,  lend  on  watches 
and  collateral,  and  am  preparing  for  the  next  war,  when 
we  shall  have  to  build  a  navy — and  I  have  got  a  part  of 
a  ship  in  the  back  yard." 

"  Jacob,  you  have  an  imperial  eye.  You  are  right  *; 
politics  must  be  the  great  business  of  a  land  with  fifteen 
legislatures  already,  and  fifty  more  to  come,  every  one 
of  them  a  polytechnic  school  for  admission  into  the  Fed 
eral  lobby.  Why  can't  you  come  over  to  New  York  and 
take  one  of  my  city  wards,  Jacob  ? " 

"  Thank  you,  Colonel.  At  present  the  Muhlenberg 
and  Heister  influence  in  this  State  keeps  me  out  of  jail, 
and  your'n  truly  is  better  adapted  for  these  Middle  States 
than  to  measure  wit  with  the  New  York  Yankees.  There 
are  fat  things  at  Albany,  no  doubt.  When  I  was  there 
the  governor's  ring  sold  some  millions  of  the  finest  land 
in  the  world  for  eightpence  an  acre — long  credit  and  no 
interest — but  I  couldn't  git  in.  Pennsylvany  will  do  for 
a  patriot  like  your'n  truly,  J.  C." 

"  But,  Jake,  I  suppose  your  grievance  here  is  the  same 
as  Falstaff's — that  you  cannot  'rob  the  exchequer  the 
first  thing.'  " 


50  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Clingman  rose  with  fury  and  pallor  contending  on  his 
face  like  thunder  in  bonny-clabber. 

"  Damn  Hamilton  !  "  he  roared.  "  Why  don't  some 
body  kill  him  ?  " 

"  For  shame,  brother  Jacob  !  To  speak  of  such  a 
gentleman  as  Colonel  Hamilton  so  harshly  !  "  came  a 
voice  from  the  interior  apartment,  followed  by  the  impos 
ing  figure  of  Mrs.  Reynolds. 

She  was  dressed  somewhat  like  Marie  Antoinette  in 
the  Temple,  with  a  white  lace  head-dress  and  black 
crape  band  over  the  crown,  a  white  illusion  tippet  or 
cape  translucent  over  her  throat  and  shoulders,  short 
sleeves  exposing  hand  and  forearm — not  fine  but  cleanly 
muscled — and  a  gown  of  dark  mourning  material.  She 
looked  like  a  recent  widow,  rested  into  a  delicate  interest 
in  life  again. 

"  Oh,  Mari  !  Mari  !  "  sighed,  with  a  rumbling  growl 
of  delight,  the  voice  of  Jacob  Clingman,  leaning  his 
powerful  palms  upon  his  mighty  thighs  and  thrusting 
out  his  hungry,  carnivorous  jaws  to  inhale  the  picture. 
"  The  Cumberland  Vallee  isn't  a  tech  to  that  beauty  of 
your'n  !  If  you  could  only  take  pity,  Mari,  on  your 
adorer  and  stop  these  groans  of  his'n,  he  would  be  for 
ever  your'n  obediently,  J.  C." 

Roguery,  animal  interest  and  pleasure  had  succeeded 
Mr.  Clingman's  late  burst  of  impotent  rage,  but  in  his 
regard  was  something  of  the  horse  trader  valuing  his 
mare. 

"  There,  there  !  "  Jacob  Clingman  roared,  bringing  the 
remaining  sentence  down  to  a  rhetorical  whisper.  "  You 
see  the  shears  that  clipped  your  Samson  in  the  Treasury 
—Hamilton  !  " 

Mrs.  Reynolds  had  thrown  her  arm  upon  the  back 
of  Mr.  CHngman's  chair  and  crossed  it  with  her  naked 
hand,  holding  her  gloves.  An  abstracted,  reminiscent 
look  added  to  her  widow-like  appearance. 

Her  face  was  a  true  oval,  yet  broad  at  the  chin,  which, 
in  spite  of  heaviness,  had  a  sweet  and  attractive  mouth, 
the  most  desirous  of  her  features,  though  her  brunette 
skin  and  light  eyes  accommodated  an  easy  mantle  of 
tranquillity  and  dreaminess  over  all.  giving  to  the  be 
holder  the  idea  of  a  large,  rich  nature,  which  at  the 
slightest  endearment  might  go  to  sleep. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  51 

Her  hair  grew  out  of  her  skin  so  luxuriantly,  that 
skin  was  so  unblemished,  her  eyebrows  and  lashes  were 
so  clear  and  regular,  like  the  seal's,  that  the  word  "  lady  " 
applied  to  her  involuntarily  ;  but  Colonel  Burr,  who  was 
one  of  the  few  educated  men  without  any  awe  of  women, 
mentally  reflected  that  Mrs.  Reynolds  had  too  many 
charms  to  keep  her  off  the  pavement. 

"  Publicity,"  he  thought  to  himself,  as  he  studied  her 
wandering  and  unbrilliant  eyes,  "  is  Mrs.  Maria's  temp 
tation  ;  for  she  has  too  much  stature  not  to  be  attractive 
to  a  large  crowd,  and  to  like  its  admiration.  Every 
thing  about  her  dress  and  toilette  is  studied  for  the 
street.  Yes,  her  life  is  external  to  herself,  and  education 
seems  stupid  to  those  who  exist  for  show  and  praise." 

"Colonel  Burr,"  sighed  Maria,  without  coming  for 
ward  to  take  his  hand,  but  patting  the  rich,  black  ring 
lets  of  Jacob  Clingman,  "  here  is  my  only  faithful- 
friend.  I  have  a  husband.  I  have  Hamilton — that  is, 
he  loved  me  once.  But  all  have  cruelly  abandoned  me, 
except  this  old,  hard  diamond.  That  is  why  you  see  me 
here.  I  wanted  his  advice  before  consulting  with  you 
upon " 

Mrs.  Reynolds'  throat  trembled  with  a  slight  convul 
sion.  She  silently  covered  her  face  with  her  hand 
kerchief,  and  her  bosom  heaved  under  the  widow's 
cape. 

"  Oh,  Mari !  Mari  !  you'll  bust  my  sensibilities,  pore 
gal  !  "  cried  Jacob  Clingman,  leaning  his  head  so  far 
back  to  look  into  her  eyes  that  it  seemed  his  huge  waist 
might  be  drawn  out  through  his  sailor's  collar. 

A  knock  came  upon  the  door  ;  it  was  a  cabin-boy  with 
a  captain's  chronometer  to  pawn. 

Mr.  Clingman  gave  the  boy  a  silver  dollar  without 
opening  his  mouth  or  allowing  a  word,  and  then  pushed 
the  boy  down  the  first  short  flight  of  steps. 

"  Stole  by  his'n  truly,  Unknown,"  exclaimed  the  portly 
spirit  of  trade.  u  There'll  be  a  reward  offered  for  it,  and 
accepted  by  your' n  truly,  J.  C." 

"  The  divorce  with  James  Reynolds — that  is  my  busi 
ness  here,"  advanced  Colonel  Burr.  "  Let  us  not  mix  it 
with  any  sentiment.  To  begin  at  the  foundation  :  who 
were  you,  madame,  and  where  did  you  first  see  your 
husband?" 


52  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Speak  up,  Mari  !  It  was  at  the  Inaugeration,  wasn't 
it?" 

"  Alas  !  yes,"  answered  Mrs.  Reynolds,  after  many 
preparations  ;  "  I  was  of  the  large  Livingston  connec 
tion,  and  we  had  an  excursion  packet  from  Poughkeepsie 
to  the  city  of  New  York  ;  and  there,  amidst  the  festivities, 
I  saw  James  Reynolds,  who  fell  madly  in  love  with  me, 
entered  into  correspondence  with  me,  and  as  I  was  weary 
of  the  country  I  listened  to  his  implorations  for  a  run 
away  marriage.  He  claimed  to  have  large  property  in 
Virginia,  and  so  he  had,  but  it  was  all  in  wilderness  land  ; 
he  possessed  nothing  but  a  clerkship,  which  was  obtained 
through  intercession  with  Secretary  Hamilton,  as  my 
husband  was  an  officer's  son.  Upon  the  scanty  salary  of 
six  hundred  dollars  a  year  two  extravagant  persons  were 
to  be  maintained  ;  we  upbraided  each  other  and  lived  in 
the  shadow  of  perpetual  debt,  until  his  moral  courage 
was  all  destroyed  and  he  was  tortured  with  jealousy  of 
my  consideration.  We  moved  with  the  government  to 
Philadelphia,  and  here,  but  for  Jacob  Clingman,  my 
husband  would  have  deserted  me,  as  he  had  exhausted 
the  last  borrowing  resource  and  was  threatened  with  the 
jail  for  debtors.  In  this  extremity  I  called  on  Colonel 
Hamilton.  He  loved  me,  and  I  discovered,  upon  the 
avowal,  that  I  loved  him  better  than  my  husband.  Since 
then.  Mr.  Reynolds  has  browbeaten  and  dogged  the 
Secretary  until  the  culmination  came  at  our  boarding- 
house  yesterday,  when  I  had  nearly  been  exposed  to  Dr. 
Priestley's  family.  Unexpectedly 

"I  know,"  interrupted  Colonel  Burr.  "You  made 
your  mark  upon  the  heart  of  Master  Harry,  and  he  went 
to  the  bottom  of  his  purse  for  you.  But  would  you  marry 
him?" 

Maria  hid  her  face  in  her  handkerchief,  though  her 
eyes,  peeping  over  at  Mr.  Clingman,  had  the  light  of 
enjoyment. 

"  Mari  never  loved  but  one,"  muttered  that  person, 
"and  that,  of  course,  was  his'n  truly,  A.  Hamilton  ;  wasn't 
it,  Mari  ? " 

The  lady  covered  her  eyes  also,  and  swelled  her  broad 
bust  with  palpitations. 

"Why  shouldn't  she  marry  the  young  feller  ?  "  inquired 
Mr.  Clingman,  with  his  somewhat  snorting,  high-stepping 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  53 

rhetoric,  in  which  his  nostrils  and  his  outlaw's  eyes  rose 
to  the  nature  of  his  great  organ  of  voice.  "Old  fellers 
grab  the  young  gals  in  their  teens — Turn  and  turn  about ! 
Let  Mari  take  a  shine  to  the  colt  of  the  chimical  doctor, 
for  it's  my  experience  that  the  widows — nateral  widows 
or  grass  ones — make  their  centre-shots  on  greenhorns 
below  the  age  of  eighteen." 

"Yes,  Colonel  Burr,  I  wish  a  divorce,"  added  Mrs. 
Reynolds ;  "  cannot  it  be  obtained  or  certified  without 
publicity?  I  know  of  no  person  who  could  do  me  any 
injury  with  the  Priestleys  in  their  far  inland  solitude,  un 
less  Hamilton  should  expose  me.  I  do  want  to  be  free 
and  commence  another  life." 

She  dropped  some  tears,  and  turned  her  face  to  the 
white  wall. 

"As  for  Hamilton,"  spoke  Jacob  Clingman,  standing 
up  with  the  zest  of  a  mastiff  at  meal-time,  his  face  full  of 
predatory  power,  "  why,  by  the  great  Connewingo  jingo  ! 
I'll  bring  him  to  book  and  bell  if  he  cuts  any  tricks  with 
your'n  and  her'n  truly,  Mari  Reynolds  and  J.  C.  !  Yer's 
a  pack  of  his  letters  to  Mari.  Yer's  her'n  to  Lis'n. 
Where's  the  pride  of  the  Schuylers  now  ?  Where's  the 
nice  equypize  and  knowingness  of  President  Washing 
ton  ?  If  these  letters  was  to  go  into  Washington's  hand, 
the  name  of  Alexander  Hamilton  woutd  stand  on  the 
black  list  of  every  Federal  department  beside  the  name 
of  your'n  truly,  J.  Clingman,  and  it  would  be  dismissal 
from  the  public  service  to  communicate  with  him." 

Colonel  Burr  softly  reached  out  his  hands  to  take  the 
letters. 

Jacob  Clingman  put  them  behind  his  back. 

"Do  you  suppose  I  would  give  you  this  power  over 
that  high-bred  gal?"  Clingman  interrogated.  "Don't  I 
know  the  reputation  of  Aaron  Burr,  even  as  counsel  ? " 

Colonel  Burr  said  the  letters  were  not  of  the  least 
consequence,  except  as  curiosities  ;  but  where  had  Mr. 
Clingman  been  able  to  find  both  Maria's  letters  and 
Hamilton's  ? 

"  Ha  !  ha  !  Well,  now,  I'll  tell  you.  As  a  junk  dealer 
I  buy  considerable  paper  stock.  As  a  claim  dealer  I  buy 
mercantile  information.  Having  learned  that  Hamilton 
deposited  his  correspondence  with  Willing  &  Bingham, 
I  made  arrangements  to  take  all  their  refuse,  which  is 


54  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

the  perquisite  of  the  porter.  I  sorted  over  them  two 
hogsheads  of  papers  you  see  in  the  yard,  and  out  came 
Hamilton's  letters." 

"  Jake,"  mused  Senator  Burr,  "  I  suspect  you  had  them 
dropped  in  that  refuse." 

"  No,  Mr.  Burr,"  Maria  spoke,  in  her  drowsy,  nasal 
tone  ;  *'  Mr.  Clingman  is  a  plain,  shrewd  man,  and  after 
Colonel  Hamilton  coaxed  his  own  letters  back  from  me 
and  I  was  without  any  proof  of  my  wrongs  against  his 
powerful  name,  I  came  to  my  old  friend,  whom  I  had 
known  in  New  York,  and  asked  him  what  to  do." 

"And  your'n  truly,"  Mr.  Clingman  took  up  the  tale, 
"reflected  that  Hamilton  wouldn't  keep  sech  letters  in 
the  house  near  his  wife.  He  wouldn't  trust  'em  to  a 
friend.  He  would  lay  'em  up  with  his  banker.  So  I 
went  into  the  junk  business  after  my  indictment  was 
quashed  and  bought  barrels  of  old  letters — and  Maria 
read  'em.  Hamilton  thinks  his  case  is  safe  at  Bingham's, 
but  it's  here ;  for  it  isn't  often  that  a  sucker  of  that 
magnitude  is  landed  in  the  net  of  his'n  truly,  J.  C." 

The  spirit  of  loot,  the  gambler's  avarice,  shone  metal 
lic  in  the  rich  eyes  and  under  the  merciless  brows  of  the 
government  parasite. 

"  Jake,  you'll  be  a  hard  man  for  him  to  settle  with,  I 
fear,"  smiled  Colonel  Burr,  looking  thoughtfully  toward 
the  letters. 

"  He'll  pay  tribute  according  to  his  rank.  That's  the 
law  of  the  Barbary  coast.  He'll  add  to  the  tribute  more 
injury  done  than  he  knows  to  his'n  truly,  Jacob  Cling 
man,  citizen." 

Steps  were  heard  upon  the  stairs,  and  Mr.  Clingman, 
peeping  over  the  baluster,  whispered  back  : 

"  Mari,  it  looks  like  Hamilton  !  " 

"  The  letters  !  the  letters  !  "  muttered  Colonel  Burr. 
"  He  probably  has  a  search-warrant  for  them." 

The  suggestion  decided  the  momentary  hesitation  of 
Mr.  Clingman,  and  Colonel  Burr,  with  the  correspondence, 
slipped  into  the  inner  room,  where  Mrs.  Reynolds  was 
also  retiring,  and  the  door  closed  upon  them  both. 


MRS.     REYNOLD?    AND    HAMILTON.  55 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE     ADVENTURESS. 

THE  apartments  of  Jacob  Clingman  were  really  the 
garret  story,  but  spacious  and  plastered  and  finished  as 
well  as  the  lower  parts  of  such  Philadelphia  dwellings, 
with  large  clothes-presses  and  closets  to  do  the  storage 
of  a  whole  family. 

Closed  and  locked  within,  Colonel  Burr  felt  relieved  of 
the  coarse  animal  society  of  the  man,  and  at  last  in  the 
very  boudoir  of  the  woman  he  admired  and  respected, 
and'  who  had  hitherto  repulsed  him. 

"  Silence,"  whispered  Colonel  Burr;  "  your  power  over 
Hamilton  depends  upon  his  not  discovering  you.  Not 
one  sound — my  dear  Maria  ! 

The  outer  door  had  been  closed  by  Clingman.  who 
quickly  gathered  his  wits  together  and  met  the  knock 
with  a  hoarse 

'•  Enter  !  " 

The  door  opened  upon  the  youth  who  had  threat 
ened  Hamilton  only  the  day  before.  He  was  shaved 
and  neat,  but  a  little  nervous  from  his  excess  of  yester 
day. 

"  Ha,  Jim  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Clingman,  slightly  mys 
tified.  "Who's  that  with  you,  Jim  ?  It  looks  like  the 
great  Colonel  Hamilton — it  do,  now." 

"  I  have  seen  you  before/'  spoke  Hamilton,  coming 
forward  with  almost  a  playful  smile.  "  I  believe  you  do 
not  come  to  my  department  as  often  as  formerly  J  " 

"  Xo,  Mr.  Secretary;  I  been  a-waiting  for  you  to  take 
that  interdict  off.  I  knosv  you'll  do  it  when  you  find 
what  a  friend  and  admirer  you  have  always  had  in  your'n 
truly.  J.  C. 
He  looked  at  Reynolds  vacantly,  as  if  to  explain  the 
connection,  and  meeting  there  an  uneasy  look  of  haughti 
ness  and  in  Hamilton's  face  only  well-bred  equanimity, 
Clingman  ventured  another  remembrance. 

"  Colonel  Hamilton,  I  am  the  son  of  an  old  soldier  of 
the  line.  I  reckon  you  didn't  know  him,  because  he 
spoke  so  little  English.  His  old  colonel — now  congress 
man — John  Peter  Gabriel  Muhlenberg,  brother  of  the 


56  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Speaker,  was  particular  kind  to  a  son  of  his'n  under 
whose  tent  you  do  me  this  honor." 

"  You  mean  that  you  are  that  soldier's  son  ?  I  am  sorry 
for  it.  A  soldier's  son  o.ught  not  to  defraud  the  Treasury 
of  his  country.  That  is  unfilial — unsoldierly,  my  friend." 

Hamilton  had  taken  the  chair  just  vacated  by  Colonel 
Burr,  and  composedly  crossed  his  black  stockings  and 
looked  at  Clingman  with  the  expression  of  a  grown  man 
at  a  Punch  show,  barely  amused,  not  at  all  absorbed. 
His  high  French  and  Scotch  color  brought  out  the  sallow 
tints  of  abuse  and  the  uncertain  moral  hold  in  the  young 
man  at  his  side,  who  was  taller  than  Hamilton  by  nearly 
a  head. 

"  Jim,  thar,  knows  how  hard  a  world  this  is  to  get 
along  in,"  rolled  Clingman's  bold  tones.  "  It's  so  hard 
a  world  that  anybody  that  can  succeed  in  it  has  the 
admiration  of  your'n  and  his'n  truly,  J.  C." 

Hamilton  barely  smiled.     "  Whose'n  ?  "  said  he. 

"You  don't  like  my  Lindley  Murray  ?"  called  Cling 
man,  irascibly.  "  You  use  it  too  elegantly  sometimes — 
addressing  ladies,  for  instance.  " 

"  There  it  should  be  used  in  its  perfection,  friend  ;  and 
when  ladies  reply  in  their  own  language,  they  generally 
acquit  themselves  better  than  when  supervised  by  a  man. 
Every  woman,  one  would  think,  knew  how  to  spell  her 
own  name." 

Seeing  both  visitors  now  quizzing  him  with  equal  in 
terest,  the  host  looked  angry,  till  suddenly  the  perspira 
tion  began  to  show  upon  his  face  and  he  turned  uneasily 
in  his  seat. 

"  Let  me  correct  you  on  another  point,"  said  Hamil 
ton,  not  altering  his  tone  or  playful  countenance,  "  and 
that  is  the  point  of  worldly  success.  It  does  not  depend 
upon  a  legacy,  nor  love  of  money,  nor  anything  more 
than  health — except  character.  I  had  not  your  size  and 
strength,  Mr.  Clingman,  though  I  became  a  soldier.  My 
education  was  supplied  on  the  basis  of  my  character. 
My  wife  and  Washington  took  me  for  my  responsibility 
alone.  But  this  is  indeed  a  hard  world  to  succeed  in 
without  character  and  by  nothing  but  conspicuous  vil- 
lany." 

The  tone  had  the  sound  of  the  prosecuting  lawyer 
making  his  first  impressive  point. 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  57 

"  Colonel  Hamilton,  you  have  done  the  worst  with  me. 
I  adopted  the  business  of  public  contractor  and  agent,  and 
you  broke  me  up.  I  am  now  in  the  junk  business,,  and 
that's  pretty  low.  You  drink  the  wine  out  of  the  bottle, 
and  I  make  my  living  out  of  buying  the  empty  bottle. 
Your  horse  flings  a  shoe,  and  I  deal  in  that  shoe.  Yet  I 
have  got  the  spirit  of  a  merchant  and  deserve  another 
chance  Won't  you  help,  sir,  to  start  fair  ?  " 

Hamilton  looked  at  the  not  unpleasing,  anxious  face 
painted  upon  the  bowsprit  of  that  tub-like  human  galleon, 
and  for  a  little  while  was  silent. 

"  To  start  fair  ? "  he  replied  at  last,  barely  serious. 
"That  would  be  an  unfair  concession  to  a  man  of  your 
record.  It  means  that  all  you  have  done  to  place  you 
in  the  rear  of  fair  men  is  to  be  forgiven  without  repent 
ance — I  may  add  without  mercy — and  you  be  advanced 
to  the  line  of  honest  persons  and  started  with  possibly 
greater  credit  than  they  ;  for  I  suppose  you  want  some 
kind  of  semi-official  situation  or  public  recommenda 
tion?  " 

"  I  want  to  be  a  post-trader,  or  camp-sutler  with  the 
army  that  is  to  be  raised  to  put  down  the  ensurraction." 

"  That  is  as  I  supposed — starting  with  an  advantage 
unfair  to  honest  merchants.  The  place  to  take  and  make 
another  character  for  yourself  is  that  which  this  erring 
young  gentleman  is  about  to  take.  Tell  him,  Mr.  Rey 
nolds." 

"  Colonel  Hamilton  has  become  my  adviser — I  hope 
my  friend,"  the  young  man  stammered,  till  he  felt  the 
hand  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  upon  his  arm  as 
Reynolds  stood  at  Hamilton's  knee.  k'  Yes,  I  am  going 
to  enlist  as  a  soldier  to  put  down  the  sedition." 

'•  Food  for  powder  !  "  exclaimed  Clingman,  contempt 
uously.  "  None  of  that  for  your'n  truly,  J.  Clingman." 

''No,"  Hamilton  remarked,  not  maliciously.  "You 
will  always  trust  to  some  other  talent  than  subordination 
and  discipline.  But  this  young  man,  atoning  for  the  past, 
offering  his  life  to  his  country  as  expiation  for  the  past, 
may  live  to  know  the  meaning  of  what  we  Nationalists 
say,  that  '  all  true  greatness  comes  through  right  limita 
tion,  all  true  freedom  through  obedience.'  >: 

He  dropped  his  hand  to  that  of  Reynolds,  and  with 
bright  seriousness  continued  : 


58  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Mr.  Clingman,  your  wishes  can  be  met,  not  by  the 
government  but  by  its  critics.  I  have  heard  you,  with 
considerable  rude  eloquence,  abuse  the  administration  of 
Washington  in  public  tirades.  You  have  only  to  continue 
that  industry,  and  Governor  Mifflin,  who  is  our  opponent, 
may  make  you  the  camp-trader  of  one  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  regiments,  as  he  has  hastened  to  befriend  many  of 
our  enemies.  You  have  claims  indeed.  I  do  not  speak 
of  those  you  caused  this  discharged  clerk  to  give  you,  by 
copying  from  the  public  records  the  names  of  deceased 
soldiers  of  the  Virginia  line.  But  you  will  possess  to  all 
future  times  the  certificate  of  having  been  the  first 
huckster  in  the  lobbies  of  American  Republican  Govern 
ment,  seeking  the  public  agents  to  corrupt,  the  public 
ministers  to  control,  through  their  sensibility  of  shame, 
and  the  public  treasury,  poor  and  scanty  as  it  is,  to 
pillage  !  " 

"By  God!"  exclaimed  Jacob  Clingman,  starting  up 
with  dangerous  spirit. 

"  Wear  the  honor  awhile,"  continued  Hamilton,  calm 
as  the  public  prosecutor  glancing  toward  the  criminal  on 
trial.  "  Thousands  are  to  follow  you  in  the  same  trade. 
The  people  are  to  be  flattered  till  they  will  resent  the 
idea  that  they  cannot  plunder  the  Treasury  and  will  over 
power  the  officer  who  resists  them.  You  merely  live  be 
fore  your  time,  and  it  will  be  the  business  of  the  historian 
to  do  you  justice." 

Clingman  lost  restraint  in  the  fury  of  this  bear-baiting, 
and  strode  toward  Hamilton  and  flung  his  young  associate 
aside. 

"  Am  I,  in  my  own  lodgings,  to  be  made  a  schoolboy 
of  and  be  ferruled  by  a  master  hypocrite  like  his'n  truly, 
A.  Hamilton  ?  "  exclaimed  the  insensate  giant. 

"  Take  care,  Colonel  Hamilton  !  "  warned  Reynolds. 
"  He  is  afraid  of  nothing." 

"I  have  merely  answered  your  questions,  Mr.  Cling 
man,"  the  Secretary  mildly  answered,  "  and  now  I  will 
tell  you  what  brought  us  here." 

"  Yes,  your  business — and  be  quick." 

"  I  am  counsel  for  James  Reynolds  in  a  suit  against 
Maria  Reynolds  for  divorce,  and  the  husband  has  traced 
his  wife  to  this  apartment.  Last  night  I  learned  from 
Senator  Burr,  of  New  York,  that  he  had  been  retained 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  59 

« 

for  Mrs.  Reynolds.  This  was  kind  of  her — to  retain  my 
most  unscrupulous  enemy.  The  information  bade  me 
lose  no  time  and  so  I  am  Mr.  Reynolds'  lawyer.  Where 
is  the  wife  ?  " 

At  the  name  the  bolt  slipped  on  the  inner  chamber 
door  and  Mrs.  Reynolds  appeared. 

Maria  Reynolds  was  now  a  different  creature  from  the 
respectable  and  striking  figure  in  weeds  which  had  so 
lately  vanished. 

Her  loosened  hair  now  fell  upon  neck  and  shoulders 
rich  and  white,  and  one  long,  mature,  elegant  arm  dropped 
bare  from  only  a  cord  at  the  shoulder  to  her  knee.  Her 
dress  was  that  of  the  chaste  Lucrece  upon  the  stage,  all 
white  and  in  one  piece.  Her  complexion  was  super- 
naturally  white,  and  her  lately  faded  eyes  now  flashed 
both  brilliant  and  hollow,  like  lamps  in  caverns. 

"  Great  God  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Hamilton  here — 
with  my  husband  ?  "  and  she  fainted.  • 

Reynolds  stirred,  hesitated,  and  half  moved  toward 
her  in  sympathy. 

"  No,  my  client  !  "  commanded  Hamilton,  shaking  his 
head. 

The  young  man  dropped  into  the  chair  vacated  by 
Clingman,  and  turned  his  eyes  from  the  scene. 

"  Mari  !  Man  !  "  the  stalwart  host  voiced  loud.  "  Is 
there  no  protector  of  her'n  to  go  to  her  help  ?  Jeems 
Reynolds,  shame  on  you  !  to  inlist  for  a  soldiering  and 
desert  this  angel  !  And  you  !  "  turning  to  Hamilton, 
"  who  separates  man  from  wife  and  innercence  from 
comfort,  will  you  let  your  victim  lie  thar  and  never  feel 
for  her  ?  " 

Hamilton  waved  his  hand  politely  for  Mr.  Clingman 
to  do  the  honors  of  hospitality. 

As  Clingman  raised  the  fair,  strong  mould  of  the  lady, 
his  shoulder,  where  her  head  fell  to  rest,  and  his  dyed 
stockings  and  blue  knee-breeches  were  sprinkled  with 
powder  from  her  face. 

She  opened  her  eyes  once,  made  dazzling  by  the 
freshly  applied  belladonna,  and  seeing  Hamilton  again, 
uttered  a  loud  scream  and  flung  up  her  naked  arm  so 
violently  that  the  other  was  also  released  from  its  sleeve, 
and  her  weight  pressing  upon  Jacob  Clingman  brought 
him  to  his  knee. 


60  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Across  great  Clingman's  upright  knee  she  lay,  a  wealth 
of  bloom  and  bough,  like  a  great  overturned  basket  of 
fruit. 

"  Mari  !  Mari  !  "  exclaimed  Clingman,  lifting  up  a 
horse  whinny  to  express  dumb  grief. 

Young  Reynolds  also  left  his  chair  and  looked  to  Ham 
ilton  appealingly. 

"  No,  my  young  friend,"  the  youthful  Secretary  spoke. 
"  She  is  in  the  proper  hands  at  present.  You  have  no 
rights  there.  She  is  leaning  upon  HER  HUSBAND  !  " 

These  words  were  spoken  with  amiable,  uninflected  dis 
tinctness,  but  they  produced  another  female  scream,  not 
of  the  theatrical  irrelevancy  of  the  first ;  it  was  now  a 
very  little  scream,  followed  by  a  profound  hush  on  the 
part  of  both  the  lady  and  her  satyr. 

"  The  variety  of  shapes  which  this  woman  can  assume 
is  endless,  Mr.  Reynolds,"  the  public  man  quietly  con 
tinued.  "  If  I  were  not  experienced  in  her  arts  they 
might  deceive  me  still  and  make  me  melt  at  the  scene 
she  has  enacted  here. 

"  For  a  brief  period,"  added  Hamilton,  "  I  sincerely 
accused  myself  of  having  injured  a  creature  of  nobler 
body  than  wit  or  mind,  one  elementary,  simple  and  un 
sophisticated.  I  considered  you,  sir,  the  villain  who  had 
perverted  her  modesty  and  reduced  her  to  want,  and  that 
you  were  living  upon  the  blackmail  extorted  from  me. 

"  Mr.  James  Reynolds,"  continued  Hamilton,  impress 
ively,  "  1  owe  you  some  apology.  The  many  letters 
in  execrable  spelling  and  greedy  spirit  sent  to  me  in 
your  name  I  suspect  to  have  been  written  by  yonder 
outlaw,  in  full  collusion  with  this  woman — who  is  his 
Wife." 

He  did  not  rise  nor  even  point  to  Clingman. 

"  Not  Clingman  s  wife  ?  "  Reynolds  uttered,  incredu 
lously.  • 

"  Yes,  Reynolds.  You  require  no  divorce.  If  she  is 
also  married  to  you,  she  is  guilty  of  bigamy  and  ripe  for 
its  punishment.  You  were  her  maiden  victim  ;  I  was 
her  highest  game.  She  chose  the  hour  and  the  minute 
well,  for  she  was  guided  by  a  shameless  and  adroit  felon 
— one  of  that  class  which  seems  to  have  been  here  earlier 
than  laws  or  institutions  or  civilization,  and  which  esti 
mates  liberty  only  for  its  corruptibility." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  6 1 

He  had  now  turned  to  Clingman  direct,  and  looked 
magisterially  into  his  perspiring  face. 

"  Get  up,  Mari  !  "  Clingman  ejaculated,  "  and  hear 
the  charge  of  the  court.  Oh,  what  a  hypocrite  !  " 

He  tried  to  look  at  Hamilton  with  this  charge,  but 
mind  was  conquering  matter. 

Rising,  still  beautiful — the  more  beautiful,  indeed, 
because  frightened  and  natural  at  last,  the  woman  re 
treated,  hid  her  face,  and  suddenly  rushed  to  Hamilton's 
feet  and  stretched  herself  there  upon  her  face. 

"  Mercy  !  "  she  moaned.  "  This  will  break  my  mother's 
heart  !  " 

"  What  of  the  heart  of  a  gentleman's  wife  ?  "  exclaimed 
Hamilton,  not  insensible  to  the  cry.  "  That  is  the  only 
injury  you  can  do  me — to  bring  pain  to  one  also  a  mother 
and  the  dependent  of  my  love  and  hands.  Her  table  has 
gone  scanty  and  she  has  heard  the  dun  of  tradesmen  to 
whom  I  was  in  debt,  because  you,  and  this  man  you  obey, 
had  plundered  me  of  my  lean  official  salary." 

His  words  outmatched  his  voice,  which  continued  to  be 
calm  and  almost  persuasive. 

Hamilton  arose  and  stooped  to  Mrs.  Reynolds'  cold 
palms. 

"You  are  woman,"  he  spoke  kindly.  "I  know  the 
wilful  spirit  in  the  blood  of  human  nature.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  to  harm  you,  but  to  warn  you,  that  you  may 
know  your  strength  and  your  weakness.  Get  up,  fellow, 
and  give  your  wife  the'chair  !  " 

Jacob  Clingman  had  dropped,  in  wondering  helpless 
ness,  into  the  only  unoccupied  seat,  and  he  obeyed  Ham 
ilton's  contemptuous  order  like  a  servant. 

"  Your'n  truly,  J.  C.  !  "  he  ejaculated,  steadying  him 
self  afterward  at  the  window-sill. 

Maria  covered  her  charms  with  the  General  Advertiser 
newspaper,  put  her  head  in  her  hands,  and  sobbed  at  in 
tervals. 

<k  Listen,  Mr.  Reynolds,  and  you  shall  determine  what 
the  local  law  is  to  do  with  these  people,"  proceeded 
Hamilton.  "  That  overlooking  Providence  which  guides 
the  affairs  of  men  has  extricated  you  and  me  mysteriously 
from  false  situations,  and  made  me  more  of  a  predestina- 
rian  than  ever. 

u  My  religious  teachers,  since  I  came  to  this  country, 


62  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

have  been  the  father  and  the  son  of  the  same  name,  stout 
Scotch  Presbyterians,  the  Reverends  John  Mason. 

"  The  younger  of  these  was  my  youthful  companion, 
and  after  he  took  his  father's  pastorate  I  made  him  my 
confessor.  I  told  him  of  my  fault,  and  how  adventurers 
had  used  it  to  empty  my  purse  and  threaten  my  reputa 
tion. 

'*  He  heard  me  with  sorrow  and  mighty  pity  ;  for  I  was 
his  idol  of  public  men,  and  he  loved  me  like  Jonathan  and 
Samuel  in  one. 

"  He  could  not  sleep  nor  study  after  he  had  heard  of 
my  failure  and  my  peril.  He  could  only  pray,  and  pray, 
and  pray  !  " 

To  this  point  the  affable,  hardly  disturbed  voice  of  the 
Secretary  had  reached  without  a  break  ;  but  now  some 
thing  choked  it  up  and  the  narrative  stopped. 

The  recollection  of  pious  friendship  touched  the  ducts 
where  sensibility  must  go  athirst  and  overflow  those 
precious  fountains.  The  tears  were  running  down  his 
cheeks,  though  he  kept  his  silence. 

The  frail  woman  saw  him  crying,  and  she  burst  into 
tears. 

"  All  cannot  be  evil  there,"  at  length  said  Hamilton, 
humbly.  "  If  you  are  weeping  for  the  friend  I  had  dis 
appointed  so,  and  who  loved  me  as  a  sinner,  there  are 
many  years  for  you  to  recover  your  better  nature  in.  I 
recommend  you  to  go  also  there,  where  pity  and  religion 
do  their  noble  offices.  But  I  must  be  harsh,  to  cut  short 
your  pain." 

"  Hain't  cried  so  much,"  rumbled  Clingman,  with  a 
hard  imitation  of  sympathy,  "  sence  I  went  to  Dunker 
love  feast  and  eat  lamb  soup  and  seen  'em  wash  feet." 

"  Mr.  Reynolds,  it  occurred  to  my  young  pastor  to 
inquire  the  names  of  these  parties  who  were  making  my 
conscience  and  my  public  duties  so  grievous.  I  gave  him 
the  names,  and  it  came  to  him,  like  the  answer  of  his 
prayers,  to  search  the  marriage  registers  ;  and  first  he 
turned  to  his  father's  record  of  couples  united  by  that  old 
man,  who  had  been  my  friend  since  I  landed  in  America." 

Clingman  looked  straight  at  Hamilton  ;  the  female 
associate  looked  down.  Both  waited  for  what  they  knew 
was  to  follow. 

"And  there,"  continued  Hamilton,  in  a  lower  voice,  as 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  63 

if  he  would  not  give  evidence,  "  were  the  names  of 
Jacob  Clingman  and  Maria  Livingston  !  Witness,  pa 
rentage,  nativity  :  all  were  spread  before  the  son,  in  the 
aged  handwriting  of  the  parent. 

"  Do  you,  who  are  recorded  there,  dispute  that  testi 
mony  ?  "  He  glanced  to  the  guilty  pair. 

"No,"  Jacob  Clingman  replied,  hastily;  "we  are  glad 
you  have  come  to  the  pint  at  last,  to  the  great  relief  of 
your'n  and  her'n  truly,  J.  C.  and  Mari,  his  wife." 

'*  Was  this  before  she  married  me  ?  "  young  Reynolds 
faltered. 

"  It  was,"  said  Hamilton;  "and  in  token  of  her  sincer 
ity  to  make  amends  I  call  on  Mrs.  Clingman  to  set  you 
free,  James  Reynolds  !  " 

"  Oh,  viper  with  so  white  a  body  and  so  pure  a  face  !  " 
the  young  man  gasped,  "  what  courses  have  you  set  me 
on — what  shame  have  you  made  me  feel  !  My  father's 
curse,  a  soldier's  ghost,  follow  you,  false  harlot,  forever  !  " 

"  The  next  thing  that  will  happen  to  you,  Jeems,  if  you 
interfere  here  between  lawyers/'  said  Mr.  Clingman,  "  I 
will  drop  you  down  into  the  aree  and  reduce  to  mush 
our'n  no  longer.  J.  R.,  the  softest  bilk  around  the  gov 
ernment." 

"  Oh,  peace,  peace  !  "  Mrs.  Reynolds  interposed. 
"  There  is  one  here  so  much  a  gentleman  that  our  lan 
guage,  our  manners,  our  very  souls,  degrade  him  to  be 
of  our  company  I  shall  tell  the  truth,  and  let  him  go 
forever." 

She  glanced  around  as  if  for  something  needful.  Ham 
ilton  read  her,  and  knew  it  was  her  mirror. 

"  The  truth  !  "  he  prompted.  "  Throw  arts  away,  ma- 
dame,  and  let  us  be  gone." 

Thus  recalled  to  the  knowledge  that  she  could  no 
longer  dupe  lawyer  or  client,  Mrs.  Reynolds  arose  and 
gracefully  sank  into  her  husband's  late  seat,  and  modu 
lated  her  voice  to  a  low,  musical,  almost  friendly  tone, 
and  told  her  story  : 

"  For  my  errors  I  can  plead  girlhood  and  country  inex 
perience  down  to  the  moment  I  was  so  deeply  affected 
by  a  great  condescension,  and  then  ambition  made  me 
unscrupulous." 

She  inclined  her  head  and  eyes  down  toward  Hamil 
ton's  feet. 


64  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  The  formation  of  the  government  in  the  vicinity  of  my 
home,  the  aristocratic  province  of  New  York,  produced  a 
general  restlessness  there,  and  among  none  more  than 
the  good  families  which  the  long  war  had  made  unthrifty. 
Our  'family  was  mixed  Dutch  and  Connecticut  strains, 
and  I  had  been  so  spoiled  by  flattery  that  I  determined 
to  .go  to  the  inauguration  of  Washington,  and  see  what 
matrimonial  prize  my  beauty  would  fetch  among  the 
statesmen  and  officials. 

"With  barely  enough  money  to  take  me  to  the  city  and 
back  and  board  me  upon  the  packet,  I  found  my  enter 
tainment  so  agreeable  that  I  let  my  party  go  home  with 
out  me  ;  and  my  detainer  was  that  man." 

She  raised  her  eyes  submissively  to  Clingman. 

"  As  our  sins  have  been  mutual,  I  will  not  charge  upon 
him  the  whole  of  my  ruin  ;  for  I  was  idle,  fond  of  men 
and  suppers,  of  late  hours  and  mid-day  rising.  He  was 
.  a  doorkeeper  at  the  Federal  Hall,  where  the  govern 
ment  assembled — a  bold,  artful,  unsparing,  voluptuous 
man.  And  so  it  happened  that  I  had  no  place  to  hide 
my  folly,  at  last,  but  beneath  his  name. 

"  My  disappointment  was  greater  than  my  shame.  The 
hopes  I  had  raised  of  an  influential  marriage  and  the  ad 
miration  of  the  noblest  circles  of  the  government  were 
wrecked  forever. 

"  He  shrewdly  followed  the  current  of  my  thoughts, 
and  offered  me  liberty  and  to  find  a  husband  for  me." 

"Vile  pander  !  "  exclaimed  Reynolds,  while  Clingman 
merely  glanced  at  him  quizzically,  returning  to  a  look  of 
keen  admiration  at  his  wife. 

"  Mr.  Reynolds,  supposing  me  single,  had  long  pur 
sued  me  with  his  intemperate  passion,  and  when  he  re 
ceived  a  clerkship  in  the  department,  through  the  in 
terposition  of  his  deceased  father's  fellow  officers,  Mr. 
Clingman  recommended  me  to  marry  him,  saying  that  the 
moment  we  moved  with  the  government  from  New  York 
to  another  State  a  divorce  would  apply. 

"  I  fell  again,  from  a  mercenary  husband  to  a  tippling 
one.  Mr.  Reynolds  was  unable  to  support  me,  and  Mr. 
Clingman  gave  Reynolds  money  to  assist  him  in  a  job 
against  the  Treasury,  and  lost  my  husband  his  clerkship. 

"  You  had  him  discharged,  sir,"  she  raised  her  eyes  to 
Hamilton,  "  and  then  I  waited  upon  you,  and  found  in 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  65 

Hamilton  the  first  man  I  considered  to  be  my  equal  who 
had  become  a  captive  to  my  appearance. 

'•  How  could  one  so  much  the  sport  of  fortune  refuse 
and  resist  you,  Colonel  Hamilton  ? " 

The  chief  fiscal  officer  of  the  government  at  last  arose 
and  concluded  the  interview. 

"  My  visit  has  gained  my  client  his  divorce  and  saved 
us  all  publicity,  madame.  Mr.  Reynolds,  you  observe  in 
your  ill-treatment  the  necessity  of  our  government  to 
give  honor  and  security  even  to  the  marriage  tie.  At 
provincial  boundary  lines  matrimonial  responsibility,  the 
security  of  debts,  the  integrity  of  currency  appear  to 
cease  in  spite  of  Union  and  Constitution.  They  call  us 
Federalists  because  we  are  Christians,  countrymen  and 
Americans."" 

"  For  that  false  woman,  who  never  loved  me,"  Rey 
nolds  spoke,  "  I  have  forfeited  place,  respect,  and  peace 
of  mind.  Oh  !  when  does  the  army  need  me,  Colonel 
Hamilton  ?" 

"  Anon,  anon,  young  friend  ;  you  are  getting  along 
very  well.  I  have  taken  the  yoke  of  evil  communication 
and  fraudulent  marriage  already  from  your  neck.  Can 
you  not  see— you  and  this  lady  also — the  artifice  of  Mr. 
Clingman  ?  He  has  complete  control  of  her,  for  she  has 
committed  the  felony  called  bigamy,  and  he  has  not. 
His  have  been  the  letters  she  has  copied  and  sent  to  me, 
for  the  ignorant  fellow  would  not  even  permit  her  to 
correct  his  spelling — she  is  Mari  upon  his  lips,  and  Mart 
in  that  tender  correspondence  which  I  have  placed  in 
safe  hands. 

'"Before  I  go,"  spoke  Hamilton  with  a  fuller  energy, 
"  let  me  say  that  if  it  ever  becomes  necessary  to  avow 
my  folly  with  the  wife  of  that  procurer,  in  order  to  cover 
my  official  name,  I  will  take  the  step.  I  will  live  under 
no  disguises  and  be  used  for  no  base  ends.  Xot  even 
the  confidence  of  one  dearer  to  me  than  all  but  my 
country  and  my  public  name,  shall  stand  between  me  and 
confession,  if  the  time  ever  comes  of  which  I  speak.  And 
here  I  must  tell  you,  James  Reynolds,  that  my  pity  will 
not  allow  me  to  recommend  you  to  a  situation  except  in 
the  ranks,  where  all  are  welcome." 

"  That  is  all  I  ask,  Colonel,"  the  young  man  answered  ; 
"an  obscure  death  and  forgetfulness — of  her." 


66  MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON, 

Hamilton  bowed  and  raised  his  hat  upon  his  hand,  and 
pointed  Reynolds  toward  the  door. 

The  young  man  stepped  forward  like  a  recruit,  and 
his  tread  upon  the  stairs  had  a  soldier's  decision. 

For  a  moment  the  two  baffled  people  of  the  place  stood 
irresolutely,  hearing  the  descending  steps,  till  Senator 
Burr  glided  from  the  inner  chamber  and  touched  Mrs. 
Clingman. 

"  Contemptible  wretch  !  "  she  shouted,  flying  from  his 
touch.  "  The  fatherless  orphan,  the  persecuted  wife 
your  selfish  hand  never  will  respect  like  that  gentleman!" 

She  indicated  Colonel  Burr's  retiring  rival,  and  called 
upon  her  husband  for  protection. 

"  Come  !  come  !  "  roared  Clingman.  "  Hand  over  the 
walleble  letters  now  to  your'n  truly " 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  replied  Aaron  Burr  with  coolness.  "  They 
belong  to  my  client  there.  I  intend  to  keep  them." 

"  Give  them  up,  or  I  will  tear  them  from  you." 

As  Clingman  sprang  upon  Aaron  Burr,  the  latter 
stepped  back  and  drew  the  pistol  he  had  concealed. 

"  Calmness  !  calmness  !  "  sighed  Aaron  Burr,  and 
crossed  the  threshold  backward,  bearing  the  letters  away. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    POLITICAL    MOLE. 

A  WEIGHT  had  fallen  from  Hamilton's  mind,  and  he 
repaired  to  his  house  to  kiss  his  wife. 

"  What  bright  color  you  have  to-day,  my  love,"  Mrs. 
Hamilton  remarked,  returning  his  embrace  and  resting 
her  head  upon  his  breast.  "  I  know  it  is  your  happiness 
for  our  dear  Phil's  recovery.  After  he  was  pronounced 
over  the  crisis,  I  slept — but  such  broken  dreams  !  There 
was  one,  love,  I  ought  not  to  tell  you,  but  it  may  turn 
aside  some  danger  for  you." 

"  Tell  me,  Eliza,  and  then  you  will  forget  it. " 

"I  dreamed  that  I  had  left  our  first-born  hardly  a 
moment  when  I  heard  a  shot,  like  a  gun  or  pistol,  and 
I  went  to  him,  saying  :  '  What  ails  you,  Phil  ? '  He  was 
lying  beside  his  cot  and  he  answered  me :  '  Mamma,  pa 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  67 

will  have  a  shot  at  him.'  Then  I  saw  that  Phil  was  bleed 
ing,  and  it  came  to  me  that  he  was  going  to  die.  I  called 
your  name  :  '  Alexander  !  '  and  you  did  not  reply.  I 
started  in  horror  from  my  boy  to  run  and  seek  you.  I 
thought  I  saw  you  and  overtook  you,  and  you  would  not 
stop.  '  My  darling,'  I  cried,  '  Phil,  our  son,  is  shot  all  to 
pieces/  Then  you  turned — and  instead  of  your  face,  it 
was  the  face  of  Colonel  Burr." 

As  Hamilton  tenderly  fondled  her  he  said  :  "  Dreams, 
dearest,  are  love's  pledges,  showing  that  we  are  never  out 
of  mind,  if  lost  to  sight.  I  have  had  dreams  of  you,  too 
—that  you  forgot  me  ;  that  I  was  a  castaway  and  had 
shattered  my  own  image  in  your  heart.  It  was  a  day 
dream,  love." 

"  I  love  you  so  !  "  she  repeated  in  the  candor  of  child 
hood.  "  I  know  you  could  never  forget  what  is  due  me 
and  yourself,  my  father  and  Washington.  We  have  been 
married  fourteen  years  ;  does  it  seem  so  long  ?  Father 
regards  you  as  honor's  own  original,  husband.  Not  all 
his  children  have  met  his  expectations,  but  we  have  an 
swered  his  prayers,  he  says.  There,  my  darling,  go  talk 
to  him  awhile." 

With  the  kiss  of  raptured  faith,  the  wife  turned  to  her 
child  and  the  husband  to  her  father,  who  sat  in  another 
room  before  his  own  foot,  of  prodigious  size,  which  rested 
upon  a  cushion.  He  was  a  tall,  slender,  swarthy  man  of 
sixty,  with  piercing  dark  eyes  and  a  voice  ringing  as  a 
sword. 

"  General,  how  is  the  gout  to-day  ?  " 

"  The  gout  ?  Don't  mind  it,  sir.  Sit  down  !  I  want 
you  to  resign  from  the  Cabinet  as  soon  as  you  have  con 
founded  the  public  enemy,  and  let  you  and  I  build  an 
Erie  Canal." 

Repairing  to  his  office  on  the  next  block.  Hamilton 
saw  his  hundred  clerks  at  work,  glanced  at  the  business 
on  his  desk,  and  felt  a  passion  for  holiday. 

"  That  dream  of  Aaron  Burr  tallies  with  my  own  super 
stitions,"  he  suddenly  thought.  "  Jefferson  is  in  the  city, 
and  I  will  go  find  him  and  see  if  there  are  not  chords  in 
his  nature  which  will  respond  to  candor  and  to  patriotism. 
We  may  be  friends." 

The  streets  were  full  of  shoppers,  and  Hamilton  re 
membered  that  the  Binghams  were  to  give  the  last  party 


68  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

of  the  season  in  a  few  nights,  so  he  called  in  to  invite 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joe  Priestley  to  go. 

There  sat  Aaron  Burr,  serene  as  one  who  had  been  on 
the  premises  all  night,  pouring  compliments  into  the  ears 
of  both  the  ladies,  and  Joe  Priestley  had  gone  to  North 
umberland  and  the  doctor  had  gone  to  the  Philosophical 
Society  with  Mr.  Jefferson. 

So  Hamilton  went  to  the  Philosophical  Society  build 
ing,  in  the  rear  of  the  Supreme  Court  wing  of  the  State 
House,  and  found  a  little  circle  of  city  savants  surround 
ing  the  discoverer  of  Oxygen. 

Jefferson  went  into  the  Philadelphia  Library  with 
Hamilton,  engaged  his  confidence,  and  made  him  the 
subject  of  an  ana.  Then  calling  upon  Monroe,  who  was 
packing  his  trunks  to  go  upon  the  French  mission,  Jef 
ferson  was  greeted  by  his  former  law  student  : 

"  Here  is  a  batch  of  Hamilton's  letters,  brought  here 
by  Aaron  Burr.  You  will  see  that  Hamilton  has  paid 
somebody — a  clerk  in  his  department,  Burr  says — the 
amount  of  eleven  hundred  dollars,  or  thereabout,  without 
equivalent  that  is  mentioned." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  color  turned  from  a  flushed  purple  to 
the  paleness  of  one  astonished. 

He  glanced  at  the  receipts  for  this  mysterious  money. 

"  It  is  his  full  quarter's  salary,  and  Hamilton  is  a  poor 
man,"  muttered  Jefferson. 

"  Aaron  Burr  came  in  hereto-day,"  said  Monroe,  "  and 
began  to  compliment  me  in  almost  every  way.  He  said 
that  myself  and  he  were  soldiers,  and  that  civil  politicians 
—I  think  he  used  the  word  *  poltroons  ' — like  you  and 
Madison,  hated  us.  He  wanted  to  give  me  a  proof  of 
his  confidence.  *  Here,'  said  he,  '  are  letters  involving 
Hamilton's  honor,  and  which  he  dare  not  explain.  They 
put  him  between  Scylla  and  Charybdis.  He  is  my 
enemy,  but  the  time  is  not  come  to  fight  him,  and  in  the 
mean  time  I  want  these  letters  out  of  the  reach  of  both 
my  daughter  and  the  parties  affected  by  them.  Put 
them  in  your  trunk  and  take  them  to  France.'  The  fellow 
supposes  that  a  minister's  trunks  can  carry  a  library  !  I 
confide  the  letters  to  you,  Governor." 

Jefferson  professed  a  sense  of  delicacy,  but  there  was  a 
look  upon  the  face  of  the  grim  Monroe  he  did  not  like. 

Mr.  Jefferson  that  night  opened  the  packet  of  letters. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  69 

He  soon  began  to  stare,  then  to  perspire.  He  read  till 
evening  darkened  and  candles  were  brought.  When  he 
finished  the  perusal  his  spotted  hazel  eyes  were  both 
weary  and  wanton. 

"  And  this  is  Alexander  the  Great,  son  of  Philip  Schuy- 
ler  of  Macedon  !  "  breathed  Jefferson,  tremblingly. 
"  Will  the  morality  of  New  England  sustain  him  now  ?" 

Jefferson  took  up  his  stylus  and  finished  the  record  in 
his  secret  memoranda  : 

"Ana. — Think  of  planting  the  carnation  cherry  at  Monticello. 
Query — Do  lentils  and  savoys  thrive  west  of  Greenwich,  77°  ?  Qua 
ker  cresses  and  pepper-grass  might  do  well  on  the  Rivanna.  The 
Brassica  Campestris,  or  Hamiltonian  rape-seed,  has  just  come  to 
market." 

At  the  earliest  dawn  Mr.  Jefferson  was  posting  for 
Virginia,  and  as  he  went  along  the  drums  were  beating 
in  the  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  villages  for  recruits 
to  put  down  the  sedition. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

TO    THE    SUSQUEHANNA. 

DOCTOR  PRIESTLEY  and  his  son  Harry  took  the  mail 
stage  at  last  for  the  town  of  Reading,  and  with  them  were 
Mr.  Cooper  and  wife  and  a  full  list  of  passengers.  They 
preferred  this  route  by  the  picturesque  Schuylkill,  rather 
than  the  famed  new  turnpike  to  Lancaster. 

Priestley  and  Cooper  were  up  with  the  driver  to  enjoy 
the  country  ;  Hal,  who  was  growing  too  fast  and  suffer 
ing  from  his  heart,  sat  next  to  the  rear  seat,  which,  hav 
ing  a  back,  was  resigned  to  females. 

Upon  that  seat  was  a  veiled  figure  of  superior  attire  and 
reserve  to  the  other  women,  and  Mrs.  Cooper  especially 
observed  her,  as  almost  too  stately  for  the  common  stage. 
There  was  something  mysterious  about  the  stranger,  too, 
like  bereavement  or  grief,  expressed  by  nervousness,  and 
once  or  twice,  when  the  stage  violently  struck  a  hole  or 
a  big  stone,  her  sigh  was  like  a  sob. 

Harry  Priestley  must  needs  sit  with  his  back  to  this 


70  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

lady,  but  the  image  of  her  dispossessed  the  scenery  from 
his  heart,  though  he  had  seen  her  but  an  instant. 

Grace,  stature,  possible  beauty,  make  the  human  scene 
in  a  young  man's  heart  more  alluring  than  tillages  or 
large,  woody  hills,  or  mirrory  vales  of  falling  rivers,  and 
so  the  Schuylkill  Falls  and  mills  Hal  hardly  saw,  or  the 
gorge  of  Wissahickon  with  its  twenty-five  mills. 

Higher  and  higher  climbed  the  stage,  through  rye  and 
maize,  orchards  and  lime-kilns,  by  Conestago  wagons 
bowed  like  the  crescent  moon,  all  travelling  to  or  from 
the  unknown,  the  illusive  West ;  and  still  the  young 
man  felt  the  magnetism  of  that  woman  only,  for  he  was 
at  the  susceptible  age  when  all  the  fancies  run  to  love 
and  tender  sentiment. 

This  young  man  was  come  to  the  West  with  natural 
patriotism,  feeling  America  to  be  his  land. 

He  revelled  in  the  assurance  of  hard  work  to  do  in  it, 
to  fell  the  trees,  to  gather  the  stones,  to  out-wear  by 
heroism  the  slow-decaying  stumps,  to  make  seed  grow 
and  rear  a  home  ;  and  where  did  all  these  visions  receive 
their  incentive  and  point  for  fulfilment  but  to  a  woman, 
a  wife,  an  everlasting  companion  down  the  eternity  of 
youth's  horoscope  of  domestic  future. 

To  him  the  revealment  of  America  involved  a  woman, 
as  Eve  was  predestined  in  Paradise. 

The  face  and  form  of  Mrs.  Reynolds,  his  interest  in 
her,  her  injuries  and  needs,  and  the  rapid  burst  of  love 
and  entreaty  made  to  her  in  the  instant  of  relieving  her, 
filled  Harry  Priestley's  mind  with  mist  like  blowing  seed- 
dust.  He  sat  on  clouds,  and  his  ankles  and  temples 
seemed  to  sprout  pinions  like  Euphorian.  Who  was  this 
other  creature  of  that  sex  which  was  to  be  loved,  so  close 
behind  him  ? 

They  dismounted  at  Norris's,  a  little  town  of  three 
inns  and  the  county  courts,  to  dine.  The  mysterious 
lady  untied  her  veil,  and  Hal  beheld  the  lady  of  his  pas 
sion,  Maria  Reynolds. 

"  Ha  !  "  cried  Hal,  "what  brings  thee,  madame,  from 
yonder  city  so  f ar  ?  " 

"  Misfortune,  dear  friend,  and,  if  you  will  keep  my 
secret,  you,  Harry  !  " 

"  I  ?  The  hope  is  too  good,  Mistress  Maria.  But 
thou'rt  here,  and  I  am  happy.  Indeed,  I  felt  as  I  came 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  7 1 

westward  through  the  waves  that  something  to  love  was 
waiting  for  me  on  the  coast.  But  not  great  beauty  like 
to  this  !  " 

"  Hush,  poor  boy  !  People  are  watching  us,  and  only 
this  I  can  tell  you  now,  Harry:  that,  pending  proceedings 
at  law  to  make  me  a  free  woman  again,  my  counsel  bade 
me  withdraw'  from  Philadelphia  to  the  interior  of  the 
State.  Entirely  unfamiliar  with  Pennsylvania,  I  could 
think  of  only  one  spot  and  that  your  destination — North 
umberland." 

"  'Twas  for  me — say  not  nay — thou  didst  recollect 
Northumberland  !  In  that  same  spirit  thou  hast  ne'er 
been  from  my  mind  one  hour.  Fate  draws  us  together. 
I  shall  feel  thy  spirit  in  my  axe,  and  the  falling  trees  will 
shout  thy  name.  What  care  we  for  any  other  world,  if 
love  be  there  ?  And  here,  as  my  oath  of  new  allegiance, 
1  swear  to  love  thy  land  for  thee,  and  thee  forever  !  " 

Mrs.  Cooper  came  by  and  whispered  to  the  pair  the 
assuring  word  : 

"  Sweethearts." 

Priestley  and  Cooper  regarded  the  lady's  journey  as  a 
mere  incident  of  the  country,  and  were  glad  of  company. 
But  the  young  man  saw  everything  to  be  beautiful  and 
animated  now. 

His  first  passion  was  reciprocated  and  in  the  manner 
of  old  romance,  with  beauty  and  sadness  descending  from 
high  station  to  need  him  and  to  bless  him. 

A  sense  of  sudden  growth  and  responsibility  came  to 
Harry  Priestley,  and  he  consciously  grew  old  ;  how  long 
would  it  be  before  these  meridian  charms  should  be  his 
own,  and  no  man  besides  dare  demand  reckoning  of  her 
— the  deceived,  the  glorious  one,  whom  he,  like  Perseus, 
should  unbind  and  bear  away? 

Maria  Livingston  felt  correspondingly  relieved  and 
child-like  as  she  discerned  the  complete  passion  of  this 
boy. 

Her  sense  of  preserved  charms  and  mental  serenity 
was  flattered  ;  her  intellect  was  not  profound  enough  to 
accuse  her  conscience,  and  in  the  zephyr  breath  of  the 
tender  present  she  dismissed  the  past  without  a  care  and 
floated  above  the  realities  of  to-morrow. 

The  elevated  scenery  swelled  her  bosom,  that  she  had 
already  ordained  to  rest  the  young  man's  head  when 


72  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

evening  should  throw  its  shades  around  their  journey, 
and  she  felt  the  power  of  woman  and  experience  upon 
the  boy's  soul,  and  rejoiced  in  their  exercise  and  con 
quest  without  evil  or  designing. 

Maria  was  one  of  those  women  who,  being  socially 
disappointed,  have  too  much  self-admiration  to  be  cast 
down. 

Bad  treatment  had  taught  her  management  and  slightly 
inclined  her  toward  dangerous  acting  ;  but  she  was  too 
indolent  to  act  much  or  be  very  deep,  yet  felt  a  presenti 
ment  that  under  Clingman's  encouragement  she  might 
become  incapable  of  good  motives,  and  therefore  had  fled 
from  him. 

At  present  she  was  indulging  with  all  her  amiable  lan 
guor  the  fragrant  girlhood  of  a  boy's  maiden  passion. 
She  heard  his  whisper  with  compassion  : 

"  Why  are  all  the  lasses  here  so  sweet-voiced  ?  Is  it 
from  the  clear,  gray  air  that  makes  one  see  so  far  ? 
They  are  so  gentle,  too — not  distant,  like  the  lofty  dames 
in  old  England.  Thou  art  the  first,  the  posy  of  them 
all.  Some  are  but  half-bloomed,  some  are  bloomed 
away  ;  but  thou  art  the  same,  and  shall  be  always  the 
same  to  me,  Flower  of  the  Americans  !  " 

Thoroughly  frightened  by  Hamilton's  authoritative 
presentment  of  her  duplicity  and  bigamy,  Maria  had  for 
the  moment  dropped  an  ambitious  hope  she  once  enter 
tained  of  controlling  him  through  his  warm  Scotch  na 
ture  ;  for,  in  spite  of  any  continuity  of  purpose,  Maria 
believed  that  she  had  only  to  want  anything  to  make  it 
come  to  her. 

Harshly  deceived  in  Hamilton's  case,  uneasy  in  the  city, 
and  made  in  other  directions  the  sport  of  fortune,  she 
had  fled,  under  the  terror  of  yesterday's  occurrences,  with 
the  dream  rather  than  the  design  of  pursuing  her  light 
romance  with  Harry  Priestley;  and  now  the  spirit  of  finan 
cial  honesty  caused  her  to  establish,  without  any  sinister 
meaning,  her  full  character  in  the  Priestley  family. 

They  had  come  to  a  German  village  at  the  roadside, 
and  rested  in  sight  of  the  limpid  Schuylkill  and  its  strong 
creeks,  when,  walking  by  the  waters  in  the  low  afternoon 
light,  Maria  placed  in  Harry's  hand  a  pocket-book. 

"  There,  Hal,  the  wallet  contains  your  initials,  worked 
by  me,  and  all  the  money  you  discharged  my  debt  with." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  73 

She  colored  a  little  at  the  extent  of  the  sacrifice,  for  she 
had  been  reckless  in  her  honesty. 

"  Generous  girl  !  "  cried  Harry.  "  I  felt  that  I  had 
trusted  well.  This  will  make  mother  glad,  for  I  told 
mother,  who  has  been  my  sweetheart  till  now." 

••  And  keep  her  so,  dear  friend  !  Oh  !  what  affection  is 
like  mother's,  that  revolts  at  no  error  and  believes  we 
shall  all  see  God  with  her " 

The  detached  member  of  the  mother  sex  here  gave  way 
to  memory  and  tears. 

The  dropping  out  of  passengers  left  the  rear  seat  to 
Harry  Priestley  and  his  lady,  and  the  sympathetic  Mrs. 
Cooper,  who  followed  her  opinionated  husband  in  all  his 
crotchets. 

The  youth  felt  the  shadows  of  the  increasing  hills 
and  heard  the  rush  of  waters  with  the  sense  of  blessed 
ness. 

Her  head  was  upon  his  shoulder,  and  to  him  it  seemed 
the  head  of  modesty  in  the  halo  of  mighty  sorrows.  From 
his  inexperience,  as  the  youngest  son  and  mother's  pet, 
he  appreciated  the  informality  of  her  condescension  to 
be  gratitude,  and  the  buffeting  of  a  wicked  world. 

Whatever  the  moral  or  social  difference  in  the  thoughts 
of  the  youth  and  the  woman,  that  gliding  antetype  of  the 
death  which  levels  and  lodges  us  all  at  last — innocent 
sleep— came  down  upon  the  lovers  and  bathed  them  in 
the  music  of  woods  and  the  light  of  stars. 

Next  day  they  were  passing  through  the  South  Moun 
tain  into  the  great  eastern  valley  between  the  Alleghanies 
and  the  plains,  and  the  town  of  Reading,  with  its  2,500 
German  people,  faced  up  to  them  like  a  red  plate  on  a 
green  table-clo:h. 

It  was  now  eighty  miles  farther  to  Northumberland, 
the  place  selected  for  Doctor  Priestley's  American  home, 
and  the  road  was  to  be  across  wild  mountains,  with  none 
of  the  conveniences  of  civilization  ;  so  Priestley  inclined 
to  take  the  Bethlehem  stage,  which  passed  twice  a  week, 
to  Lancaster,  and  then  to  ascend  the  valley  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna  to  his  future  abode. 

The  doctor  found  that  his  son  was  disposed  to  go  to 
Northumberland  direct,  across  the  North  or  Blue  Moun 
tain,  and,  making  allowance  for  the  pleasures  of  female 
society,  concealed  his  disappointment  that  for  the  first 


74  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

time  his  last-born  could  find  better  company  than  his 
father's. 

The  infinitely  repeated  duetto  of  love,  therefore,  had 
with  Harry  and  his  lady  two  days  and  nights  to  mingle 
with  the  general  Orchestra  of  nature — nature  that  did 
not  care  whether  Oxygen  was  known  to  man  or  not,  so 
men  did  not  die  out  while  Oxygen  could  make  them 
love. 

For  sixty  miles  they  were  upon  wild  mountains  or  in 
their  rugged  interstices,  seeing  little  but  new  clearings 
and  log  taverns  and  mills  and  log  houses  ;  yet  to  Harry, 
at  least,  the  rough  journey  was  too  short,  and  woman 
can  take  the  roughest  journey  well  in  tender  passion  or 
in  compassion. 

At  last  there  opened  in  the  mountains  a  wide  aisle  of 
silver  light,  reflecting  gray-blue  ridges  with  manes  of 
olive-hued  woods,  and  a  sound  burst  from  the  young 
man's  lips  of— 

"  Susquehanna  !     We  are  almost  Home." 

They  saw  a  little  town  on  the  river's  bank,  in  a  great 
meadow  between  waves  of  ridge  : 

"  Sunbury  !  "  said  the  driver.  "  The  place  just  beyant, 
where  the  big  river  forks,  like  sugar-tongs,  is  Narthum- 
berland." 

"  There,  my  darling,"  the  young  pilgrim  whispered — 
"  there  is  the  end  of  my  journey  ;  there  we  shall  live  and 
die." 

"  O  Hal  !  my  poor,  artless  lover,"  the  lady  answered  ; 
"  I  may  live  there,  but  I  fear  I  cannot  die  there." 

Doctor  Priestley  also  gratefully  pursued  his  journey 
to  the  banks  of  the  broad  river,  which  parted  the  new 
world  from  the  wilderness. 

He  went  along  its  shores  through  the  North  Moun 
tain  and  the  Mahanoy  Ridge,  marvelling  how  exten 
sively  the  hand  of  God  had  ranged  upon  this  illimitable 
land. 

He  saw  at  Sunbury  where  late  had  stood  the  Iroquois 
post,  whence  New  York  governed  all  the  aboriginals  of 
Pennsylvania  from  the  sources  of  the  Susquehanna. 

Now  a  rude  little  town  of  logs  had  commenced  to  take 
life  and  association,  and  govern  in  a  single  shire,  or 
county,  one-third  of  the  Pennsylvania  State.  And  the 
name  of  that  mighty  county  was  the  name  of  his  home 


MR?.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  75 

between  the  silver  shafts  of  the  great  river's  antlers — 
Northumberland  ! 

There  Priestley  sat  down  to  build  his  home  and  feed 
the  divine  light  with  the  oil  of  love. 

Near  by,  his  son  Hal  was  clearing  a  farm,  animated 
by  the  light  of  that  human  love  which  was  to  people  the 
wilderness. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
BINGHAM'S  SUMMER  PARTY. 

WHEN  Bingham's  great  party  was  given,  Colonel  Burr 
attended  Mrs.  Lizzie  Priestley  to  the  Bingham  mansion. 

It  was  only  a  square  from  Hamilton's  residence,  on 
Third  Street,  and  presented  the  first  great  city  house  of 
the  era  of  the  Republic. 

The  proprietor  had  brought  plans,  furniture,  and,  to 
some  extent,  social  ideas  from  Europe  ;  his  house  was 
the  extended  model  of  a  London  duke's  and  the  centre 
of  foreign  and  financiering  society  in  America. 

Mrs.  Priestley,  of  plain  wool-spinners'  and  dissenters' 
society,  felt  the  impending  riches  of  America  in  this, 
their  fif%t  thorough  realization,  as  she  surveyed  the  great 
square  Bingham  mansion  with  its  stone  panels  and  belt 
courses,  architectural  wings  and  conservatories,  wooded 
lawn  of  several  acres,  and  car ii&gz  parterre  with  double 
gates,  flaming  lamps,  and  imported  valets  in  silk  stock 
ings,  and  saw  the  moving  coaches  and  the  lighted  apart 
ments,  and  heard  the  blare  of  music. 

"  Is  all  this  great  square  one  family's  ? "  she  asked  of 
Senator  Burr. 

"  Not  one  household,  but  one  connection.  The  Pow 
ells  and  Byrds,  to  whom  Mrs.  Bingham  is  niece,  adjoin, 
and  her  father,  Mr.  Willing,  lives  next  door.  They  built 
together,  and  constitute  a  family  Belgravia." 

The  mansion  was  upon  the  English-basement  plan, 
low  to  the  ground  ;  and  stepping  within,  an  expanse  of 
tesselated  marble  threw  up  the  graceful  wave  of  an 
Italian-marble  stairway,  which  leaned  upon  the  air  ;  par 
lors  were  at  the  left,  full  of  gay  society  ;  on  the  right 
were  an  elegant  study  and  a  library,  separated  by  a  hall, 


76  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

and  at  the  end  cloak-rooms,  from  which  Lizzie  Priestley 
emerged  to  hear  the  cry  sounded  up  the  stairway  and 
repeated  there  : 

"  Colonel  Burr  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Priestley  !  " 

Burr  was  almost  the  only  actor  there  in  public  life,  and 
the  original  American  tuft-hunter,  quickest  to  lay  hold  of 
strangers  of  distinction  and  be  gazetted  with  them.  As 
he  went  up  to  the  drawing-room  with  Lizzie  Priestley, 
his  small  figure  was  expanded  and  his  suavity  chilled  into 
a  military  consciousness. 

The  hosts  and  their  assistants  heard  the  name  of 
Joseph  Priestley  with  curiosity,  and  supposed  it  to  be 
the  philosopher's  wife. 

They  saw,  instead,  a  fair,  girlish  creature,  with  silken 
curls  and  large  gray  eyes,  and  a  manner  sweet,  observing, 
and  wholly  unaffected  by  this  social  greatness,  upon 
which  she  appeared  as  a  looker  and  not  an  aspirant. 

"  I  am  sure  you  are  welcome  to  the  United  States," 
said  Mrs.  Bingham  after  Lizzie  was  presented.  "  But 
why  do  you  go  so  far  from  us  to  dwell  ?  " 

The  speaker  was  the  most  beautiful  woman  Lizzie  had 
ever  seen  or  dreamed  of — above  the  size  and  height  of 
most  other  attractive  women,  with  arms  and  hands  of 
faultless  mould,  flexibility  and  ease  being  governed  by 
deliberation  ;  and  every  movement  of  her  body*or  eyes 
was  the  graceful  fruit  of  a  thought. 

Her  hair  was  powdered  and  pushed  away  in  skeins 
from  a  skin  as  white  as  perfect  health  could  allow  ;  her 
breast  and  forearms  were  bare  and  beautiful.  She  wore 
no  jewelry  but  a  bracelet  of  pearls,  and  her  dress  seemed 
also  of  pearl  and  to  flow  like  the  waves. 

In  her  countenance  were  the  archness  of  nature  and 
the  composure  of  breeding.  If  there  was  something 
worldly  in  this  exquisite  face,  it  was  the  worldliness  of  a 
queen. 

"  We  consult  papa's  taste,"  answered  Lizzie  Priestley; 
"where  he  can  be  happy  we  shall  be,  too." 

"  Oh  !  tnat  is  the  spirit  which  makes  all  lands  glad," 
said  Mrs.  Bingham.  "  You  are  Doctor  Priestley's  daugh 
ter,  then  ?  You  love  your  husband,  and  he  loves  his 
father.  That  is  all  we  need  anywhere.  Let  me  make 
you  known  to  my  father,  Mr.  Willing,  and  to  Mr.  Morris, 
his  partner." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  77 

The  husband  of  this  fine  lady  had  the  lines  of  a  Quaker, 
yet  the  wine  color  of  a  high  liver.  Her  father  was  a 
solid,  unattractive  man,  also  wigged  and  powdered,  but 
otherwise  a  true  son  of  the  Penns. 

Senator  Robert  Morris,  his  partner,  was  a  likeness  of 
Doctor  Franklin  electrified— more  English  than  Ameri 
can,  with  somewhat  baldish  head,  florid  square  face,  large 
throat,  and  of  the  over-fattened  eagle  type,  where  seden 
tary  merchant  habits  inclosed  a  mind  that  was  like  a 
wing,  and  floated  above  times  or  darted  into  gulfs  with 
decision. 

"  We  sold  your  husband  good  land,"  said  Mr.  Willing, 
"but  I  wish  he  had  gone  farther,  if  he  would  go  so  far, 
and  taken  a  part  of  our  tract  in  Western  New  York." 

"  Yes,"  said  Morris,  "  that  region  has  cataracts  to  sound 
its  praises.  It  ought  to  be  the  seat  of  empire.  The 
climate  is  more  energizing  there  than  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  prospects  not  so  narrow." 

"  I  should  think  this  might  be  the  seat  of  empire," 
answered  Lizzie,  quietly  glancing  around  at  the  infinitely 
repeating  mirrors,  Italian  paintings,  and  luscious-pattern 
carpets,  the  painted  ceilings,  soft  lights  of  candelabra, 
and  easy,  sensuous  Philadelphia  beauty. 

"  This  might  also  be,  my  gentle  friend,  the  seat  of  care 
and  apprehension,"  said  Robert  Morris.  "  I  almost  envy 
your  father,  Priestley,  his  capacity  to  draw  reality  from 
bubbles,  or  my  friend  Hamilton,  here,  the  love  of  the 
science  of  finance  without  its  avarice." 

He  presented  Hamilton,  who  had  just  come  up  with 
Mrs.  Adams. 

"  O  Mr.  Morris  !  "  corrected  Hamilton,  "  if  the  imputa 
tion  of  avarice  can  come  upon  your  fame,  vindication 
will  be  cruel  rather  than  let  it  stay.  You  fed  us  when 
we  were  hungry  and  our  little  credit  gone.  General 
Washington  borrowed  from  you  when  you  had  nothing, 
for  your  faith  was  like  Moses',  and  you  could  smite  rocks 
and  make  them  flow." 

"Doesn't  he  talk  beautifully?"  cried  Morris,  turning 
Hamilton's  face  toward  Lizzie  Priestley. 

Aaron  Burr  glanced  at  Mrs.  Priestley's  face.  It  was 
beaming  as  toward  a  lover's. 

This  was  Colonel  Burr's  construction  of  it,  and  he 
thought  he  knew  women,  if  anything. 


78  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  There  is  everything  in  the  talker  being  honest  and 
true,"  the  Englishwoman  declared,  still  looking  with 
admiration  upon  Hamilton. 

"Don't  spoil  our  Secretary,"  Mrs.  Bingham  archly 
added.  "  Everybody  falls  in  love  with  him,  even  a  Mrs. 
Reynolds." 

Hamilton's  face  became  flushed.  He  was  looking  at 
Mrs.  Priestley  as  this  word,  mentioned  for  the  first  time 
in  elegant  society,  rebuked  the  praise  of  his  honesty  and 
truth. 

"  Mrs.  Bingham  is  not  herself  to-night,"  answered  the 
Secretary  with  an  attempt  to  smile,  but  it  was  more  like 
anger. 

"  Ha  !  Hamilton,"  Mr.  Bingham  queried,  with  his  mix 
ture  of  enjoyment  and  deportment,  "  I  hope  our  Phila 
delphia  beauties  have  not  been  too  much  for  your  good 
Scotch  principles  ?" 

There  was  a  twinkle  in  Mr.  Bingham's  eye  as  if  he 
rather  hoped  Hamilton  had  been  fond  and  weak. 

It  might  have  been  mischief  or  pique  at  his  reproof 
which  caused  Mrs.  Bingham  to  perceive  Hamilton's  tem 
per  and  press  the  subject : 

"  It  is  not  a  Philadelphia  beauty,  Mr.  Bingham,  but  a 
New  York  one.  So  my  cousin,  Mary  Livingston,  tells 
me.  It  seems  that  the  lady  in  question  is  of  the  Living 
ston  connection  distantly.  Well,  good  blood  will  tell,  if 
not  in  prosperity,  then  in  beauty;  and  I  have  noticed  quite 
a  striking  lady  in  the  streets,  and  find  that  her  husband 
was  in  Colonel  Hamilton's  department.  She  mentioned 
Colonel  Hamilton  as  her  greatest  friend  to  Cousin  Walter 
Livingston. " 

The  fact  that  Mrs.  Adams  was  upon  his  arm,  a  prim 
subject  to  interpret  the  matter  in  hand,  made  this  running 
satire  the  worse  for  Hamilton. 

He  had  only  come  to  the  party  upon  official  pressure 
and  for  personal  relief,  and  here,  at  the  threshold  of 
the  drawing-room,  the  so-recent  degrading  scene  in  the 
attic  of  "  His'n  truly,  J.  Clingman,"  was  revived  and 
freshened. 

"  Secretary  Randolph  and  Mrs.  Randolph  !  "  was  the 
next  announcement  from  the  hall,  repeated  at  the  head 
of  the  stair. 

The  Secretary  of  State,  in   his  grandee  manner  and 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  79 

perfect  recovery  of  spirits,  appeared   with  the   married 
daughter  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

Martha  Randolph  looked  the  perfection  of  family  love 
liness,  as  Mrs.  Bingham  that  of  society. 

As  the  Randolphs  were  disengaged  Martha  exclaimed: 

"  Now,  Cousin  Ned,  you  wanted  to  finish  that  con 
troversy  with  Mrs.  Adams,  and  here  she  is.  It  is  my 
last  chance  to  meet  Colonel  Hamilton  before  he  leaves 
the  government.  Come,  Hamilton,  and  give  me  your 
arm." 

Relieved  by  this  kind  and  attractive  spirit,  Hamilton's 
troubled  face  came  forth  in  roses,  but  he  noticed  that 
Aaron  Burr  had  been  an  interested  witness  of  the  scene 
over  Mrs.  Reynolds. 

"  You  want  to  know  what  are  these  rich  people,"  said 
Burr  to  Lizzie  Priestley,  as  they  promenaded.  "  Well, 
then,  Mrs.  Bingham  is  that  old  merchant  Willing's  daugh 
ter,  with  the  added  character  of  a  brilliant  and  beauti 
ful  Irish  mother.  At  sixteen  she  married  Bingham,  the 
richest  single  man  in  the  United  States.  Four  genera 
tions  of  thrifty  Quakers,  commencing  with  a  blacksmith, 
concentrate  their  property  upon  that  happy  man,  and 
beauty  yielded  to  his  golden  shower." 

"  But  they  love  each  other  ?  " 

"  Unquestionably.  Elegant  creatures  like  that,  mar 
ried  before  the  mind  wanders,  in  the  very  dew  of  child 
hood,  are  loyal  wives.  He  has  filled  her  mind  with  fam 
ily  ambition.  During  the  war  he  was  in  the  West  Indies, . 
an  alternate  British  and  American  consul,  multiplying 
money  and  cultivating  English  society.  He  came  home 
to  marry  in  the  best  official  life,  so  that  the  black 
smith's  anvil  would  not  be  heard  to  ring  in  his  family 
shield.  His  exquisite  girl-wife  is  a  Penn,  a  Livingston, 
a  McCall,  a  Willing ;  the  best,  in  connection,  Bingham 
could  get.  Thus  fortified  by  beauty,  virtue,  youth,  and 
family,  he  carried  her  abroad  for  years  till  she  learned 
the  etiquette  of  courts  and  he  the  leading-strings  of 
finance.  Then  back  to  this  rich  land  to  keep  at  the  top, 
socially  and  in  fortune.  He  means  to  marry  their  pos 
terity  to  bankers  and  nobility  abroad." 

"  You  speak  of  all  this,  Colonel  Burr,  as  if  there  was 
something  criminal  about  it.  Should  not  your  beautiful 
Americans,  the  heirs  of  great  fortunes,  be  equal  to  the 


8o  'MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

best  alliances  ?  You  would  not  have  them  marry  only  in 
the  second  and  third  class  of  foreigners  ?  " 

"  Not  I,"  answered  Colonel  Burr,  looking  around  be 
fore  he  spoke,  and  speaking  low.  "  My  daughter  shall 
have  a  throne  if  I  can  get  it  for  her." 

The  night  was  warm,  and  Hamilton  felt  oppressed  by 
the  extended  recognition  of  his  acquaintance  with  Mrs. 
Reynolds. 

As  he  led  Mrs.  Randolph  to  a  cool  seat  in  the  arborage 
of  the  Bingham  park,  he  sat  by  her,  more  and  more  un 
happy,  while  she  chatted  with  a  free  heart,  for  she  had 
not  a  grain  of  subtlety  or  deceit  in  her  nature. 

Wit,  sparkle,  warmth,  joy  were  attributes  of  Jefferson's 
daughter  in  her  twenty-third  year,  and  the  source  of  them 
was  courage,  the  want  of  which  had  chilled  her  father's 
manner  in  spite  of  effusiveness  and  protestation. 

The  sorrows  of  the  shy,  in  this  case,  became  the  dis- 
trustfulness  of  a  nation,  through  Jefferson's  literary  skill 
and  intercourse.  He  had  the  ideality  and  panic  of  Rous 
seau,  passionate  sentiments,  cold  methods,  love  of  man 
in  the  abstract,  unjust  and  silly  dislikes.  But  his  daugh 
ter  was  rich  with  young  maternal  loves  and  friendship's 
ardor. 

"  Dear  friend,"  breathed  Martha  Randolph,  "  you  are 
not  playful  to-night.  I  do  not  like  it.  There  never  was 
a  man  who  could  throw  off  official  care  like  Hamilton. 
You  and  father  have  met  again  and  had  a  friendly  talk. 
What  can  ail  you  ?  " 

"Little  Patsey,"  said  Hamilton,  "except  the  pang  of 
dying,  young,  I  think  every  pang  begins  in  a  violated 
commandment." 

"  You  should  not  violate  commandments,  Phocion. 
I  cannot  conceive  you  breaking  any  commandment,  un 
less  it  might  be  coveting  your  neighbor's  horse/' 

"  Or  his  wife  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no  !  You  are  too  precise  for  that.  Even  as  you 
say  it,  there  is  a  queer  tone  of  bitterness,  which  is  little 
like  gallantry,  Phocion.  I  think  you  are  suffering  from 
the  spitefulness  of  so  many  people  since  you  criticised 
the  French  Revolution.  Now,  as  an  almost  unfilial  secret, 
I  commend  your  good  sense.  Such  things  as  I  saw  in 
Paris — let  us  not  think  of  them.  The  coming  of  that 
great  bloody  snake  for  his  human  meal  out  of  the  slimy, 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON".  8 1 

reeking  faubourgs,  day  after  day,  was  like  reading  some 
awful  book  of  what  could  not  be  true." 

"  I  wish  to  be  liked,"  said  Hamilton,  "  but  I  can  wait 
till  people  like  me.  It  is  like  children  crying  and  raging 
at  their  mother  ;  she  does  not  take  it  to  heart.  Are  you 
very  happy  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes  !  I  married  for  nothing  but  love.  My  hus 
band  is  perfectly  representative  of  the  young  gentlemen 
of  fortune  in  Virginia,  honorable^  impulsive,  not  too  well 
employed,  noble,  and  unbroken.  I  am  finding  that  I  have 
in  him  both  my  lover  and  my  child." 

"  Then  you  could  forgive  him  even  the  greatest  in 
jury  ? " 

"  Of  course.  He  would  not  be  responsible  like  you, 
for  example,  who  seem  to  have  been  born  perfect.  And 
yet,  I  sometimes  think  of  you,  Hamilton,  and  wish  that 
the  beautiful  government  of  your  passions  and  inclina 
tions  could  be  general  among  husbands.  Our  slaves 
supersede  methodized  life  too  much.  I  watch  the  fami 
lies  of  the  birds  and  the  domestic  animals,  and  they  have 
no  servants." 

"  Strange,"  said  Hamilton  with  a  groan,  "  that  woman 
is  expected  to  forgive  man  where  he,  with  all  his  philos 
ophy,  is  unable  to  forgive  her." 

"  Not  strange,  sir.  The  compensation  of  the  children 
the  husband  does  not  have.  They  are  mightier  ties  than 
love  itself  ;  they  dwell  with  the  mother  like  gratitude, 
that  speaks  and  loves.  For  him,  their  father,  they  are 
pleading  advocates  and  ceaseless  sentinels  of  his  honor. 
If  his  love  is  withdrawn,  they  supply  his  love  to  his 
wife.  He  may  wander  and  forget  himself,  because  the 
offspring  does  not  go  with  him.  By  that  dear  offspring 
the  wife  is  always  the  richer  of  the  pair,  and  she  can 
lend  forgiveness." 

"  Little  Patsey,  you  are  a  Christian." 

"  Why  not  ?  You  say  that  woman  is  never  forgiven 
for  her  greatest  error  by  man.  Do  you  not  remember, 
Hamilton,  that  exception  which  for  nearly  eighteen  hun 
dred  years  has  comforted  and  lifted  up  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  our  sex  and  made  the  name  of  Mary 
twice  as  dear  to  every  woman  ?  Not  the  Mary  who 
could  not  sin,  but  the  other  Mary  whom  the  First  Gentle 
man  forgave." 


82  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Wonderful  proof  of  Christianity's  sway,"  exclaimed 
Hamilton,  "that  to-night  such  an  incident  is  remembered  ! 
But  has  it  ever  been  repeated  ?  " 

"  If  never,  that  condescension  of  the  highest  and  the 
holiest  is  still  woman's  example,  fresh  with  every  gener 
ation.  Our  greatest  happiness  is  to  forgive  man." 

"  I  know  you  will  always  forgive  me,  plenteous  soul, 
whose  name  was  drawn  from  Mary's  sister  !  " 

"  Believe  me,  with  my  life  happy  as  it  is,'1  said  Martha 
Randolph,  "  if  I  could  lay  it  down  to  have  you  and  my 
father  love  each  other  and  descend  to  fame  together,  I 
would  die." 

Hamilton  raised  her  with  his  hand  and  felt  a  happy 
thrill  go  through  him  from  her  palms. 

"  The  architects  may  quarrel,"  said  he,  "  but  our  house 
is  built  for  such  mothers  and  their  children,  and  it  will 
last." 

Secretary  Randolph,  coming  by,  carried  his  cousin  off 
and  left  Mrs.  Adams  with  Hamilton. 

"  There  is  no  time  like  the  present  to  put  in  a  thrifty 
word,"  said  Mrs.  Adams.  "  You  and  I  have  been  friends, 
and  you  and  John  Adams  have  the  same  political  senti 
ments.  What  is  your  objection  to  his  succeeding  General 
Washington  in  the  presidency  ?  " 

"'Have  I  objected  ? " 

"  He  thinks  you  are  against  him.  I  suppose  Jefferson, 
or  some  of  these  lovers  of  government  by  detraction, 
told  him  so.  Now,  Colonel  Hamilton,  I  have  got  only 
one  political  principle " 

"And  that  is  a  certain  John  Adams  ? " 

"  Just  that.  He  is  full  of  ability  and  without  an 
ounce  of  management.  I  have  put  my  life  at  his  ser 
vice,  and  as  he  will  be  forever  unhappy  without  the 
presidency,  therefore  I  come  "to  you  confidently,  for  I 
never  knew  you,  like  some  people,  to  put  everything 
down  that  is  said,  and  try  to  lay  history  by  the  heels." 

"  Institutions  are  the  true  history  of  the  Federalists, 
Mrs.  Adams.  That  is  why  I  hesitate  to  support  your 
husband  for  Washington's  office.  Suppose  he  should 
fail,  after  such  a  man  !  Would  he  be  any  happier  ?  And 
my  fear  is  that  his  self-esteem  would  some  day  become 
our  Constitution  and  laws,  and  the  times  of  Washington 
be  confused  with  the  eccentricities  of  Mr.  Adams." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  83 

"Perfectly  frank  !  But  I  would  be  there,  also.  So 
would  you  ;  so  would  Washington.  We  are  not  all  going 
to  die,  probably,  in  six  years.  Would  you  rather  have 
it  Adams  or  Jefferson  ?  " 

"  Hard  question,  dear  madame.  Understand  me  to 
appreciate  your  wife-like  devotion.  If  you  were  John 
Adams,  we  would  elect  you. " 

*'  I  am  John  Adams,  and  that  is  partly  why  you  will 
give  your  consent  ;  for  I  must  go  to  Jefferson  if  you  re 
fuse  me,  and  I  really  regard  you  much,  in  spite  of  your 
French  composition  and  great  imagination.  That  artist 
quality  which  makes  you  project  governments,  as  Cal 
vin  projected  churches,  is  to  your  injury  in  some  minds. 
These  think  you  ought  to  have  grown  with  more  regard 
to  habits  and  precedence.  But  I  can  see,  in  spite  of  my 
New  England  principles,  how  here  and  there  an  extraor 
dinary  man  can  produce  himself." 

"  Precedence  in  a  brand-new  republic  !  Fie  !  With 
whom  can  you  have  been  talking,  Mrs.  Adams?" 

"  Clairvoyant  !  I  will  not  tarry  to  let  you  read  me. 
Hamilton,  if  you  separate  from  my  husband  you  will 
make  me  his  partisan,  and  I  may  have  to  join  Jeffer 
son.  Jefferson  will  have  no  friend  who  is  yours.  On 
that  subject  he  is  nearly  a  monomaniac." 

"  Then,  not  to  be  blamed  if  his  reason  be  disturbed, 
if  Mr.  Adams  can  forget  himself  in  his  office,  and 
serve  his  second  term  in  his  first,  imitating  Washington 
in  everything  but  the  double  term,  he  can  bequeath  his 
office  to  the  friends  of  Washington,  and  I  shall  not  be  in 
his  way." 

She  clasped  both  his  hands  and  drew  him  away. 
Toward  the  mansion  they  met  Willing  and  Morris,  the 
late  partners,  and  the  former  became  Mrs.  Adams' 
escort,  while  Morris,  returning  to  the  arbored  tree  with 
Hamilton,  sat  down  to  say  : 

"  I  would  like  society  better  if  my  mind  was  not  in  the 
wilderness  where  my  lands  are." 

"  How  much  have  you  now  in  the  Genesee  country  ? " 

"  Over  a  million  acres." 

"  How  much  in  the  Massachusetts- New  York  Com 
pany  ?  " 

"  Quite  four  million  acres." 

"  In  the  Pennsylvania  Property  Company  ?  " 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Ten  thousand  shares." 

In  the  Asylum  Susquehanna  Company  ?  " 

Two  millions." 

And  the  North  American  Land  Company  ? " 

There  are  six  million  acres  in  the  whole  of  it." 

"  How  many  Washington  City  lots  ?  " 

"Six  thousand  are  in  our  coalition." 

Morris  heaved  a  sigh. 

"  I  am  not  yet  troubled  by  my  lands,  but  last  year  I 
lost  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds  money  in 
Dublin  and  Bristol.  1  took  so  much  real  estate  to  get  that 
back,  but  the  land  sells  slowly.  Now,  Bingham,  and  my 
partner  since  boyhood,  Willing,  dissolve  from  me.  The 
new  bank  here  is  trying  to  break  my  credit.  Can't  you 
help  me  ? " 

"  I  have  got  five  hundred  dollars.  Take  it  all.  I  can 
send  my  wife  to  Saratoga  with  her  father  and  go  out 
against  the  Insurrection  myself." 

Robert  Morris  laughed  : 

"  Colonel,  your  five  hundred  dollars  would  be  like  a 
rush-light  to  make  my  Aladdin's  cave  of  obligations 
shockingly  visible.  No  ;  I  want  to  give  you  money  and 
to  make  you  our  land-agent  in  Europe  in  place  of  Temple 
Franklin.  You  are  on  the  eve  of  retiring  and  are  poor, 
but  your  reputation  is  great.  No  man  could  magnetize 
the  foreign  money  market  like  Alexander  Hamilton. 
Your  commission  will  be  a  fortune." 

"  Morris,  this  is  not  your  proposition  ?" 

"  No  ;  I  told  Bingham,  Nicholson,  Greenleaf,  and  the 
rest  that  you  wouldn't  hear  of  it.  The  voice  of  my 
necessity  brings  you  the  message,  but  I  advise  you  not 
to  accept  it." 

"  O  my  friend  !  the  plaintive  wail  of  that  necessity 
will  reach  through  all  our  history,  for  there  is.  no  fame 
like  a  great  man's  sorrows." 

"  I  have  always  carried  a  load,"  said  Morris,  reflec 
tively.  "  I  shall  carry  it  to  my  grave — or  my  prison  cell. 
I  would  rather  have  it  my  grave." 

"  My  personal  credit  I  would  take  the  risk  of,  if  I  be 
lieved  it  would  redeem  you  ;  for  I  am  not  Levite  enough 
to  go  by  on  the  other  side  and  leave  you  wounded — you, 
who  named  me  to  Washington  for  his  financial  secretary 
when  I  was  poor,  youthful,  and  obscure  !  But  it  is  Amer- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  85 

lean  reputation  I  should  lose — the  honor  of  Washington's 
companion.  They  abroad  would  say  we  had  no  char 
acter,  and  huckstered  our  virtue  in  the  very  honeymoon 
of  official  credit.  A  little  while  I  might  make  money  for 
you,  but  at  last  I  should  not  be  esteemed  enough  to  be 
your  friend  and  shed  my  tears  with  you." 

*rl  will  not  have  you  make  that  mistake.  Not  to  make 
you  rich  !  There  is  Aaron  Burr,  who  solicits  the  situation. 
He  is  loaded  up  with  our  lands  now  ;  we  are  carrying 
him.  Indeed,  he  sold  us  the  New  York  lands,  as  one  of 
the  commissioners.  But  even  a  penny  an  acre  is  dear  if 
you  buy  the  globe." 

"  I  shall  go  to  the  law  at  once,"  said  Hamilton.  "  Noth 
ing  but  the  defence  of  the  country  shall  take  me  from  it. 
My  passion  is  for  arms  ;  my  duty  must  be  the  law." 

"  By  the  way,  what  did  you  want  with  that  parcel  of 
papers  you  left  at  the  shipping-house,  Hamilton  ?  " 

"  The  private  papers  I  left  with  you  so  long  ago  ?  I 
never  sent  for  them." 

"  Yes,  you  did.  A  Mrs.  Reynolds  came  and  described 
them,  and  flirted  with  Bingham,  and  carried  them  off." 

"Retributive  Heaven!  Morris,  my  honor  is  .gone 
already." 

He  sat  upon  the  bench,  and  his  abstracted  senior  was 
gone. 

"Oh  !  let  me  haste,"  thought  Hamilton,  "to  leave  this 
capital.  But  no,  I  will  never  run  away." 

He  placed  his  face  in  his  hands  and  tried  to  think. 
Nothing  would  come  to  his  mind  but  the  verse  of  Robert 
Burns,  so  lately  reprinted  in  the  States.  He  repeated  it 
aloud  : 

* '  The  sacred  lowe  0'  tveel'placed  love, 

Luxuriantly  indulge  it ; 
But  never  tempt  th?  illicit  rove. 

Though  naething  should  divulge  it  : 
I  waive  the  quantum  0'  the  sin, 

The  hazard  of  concealing ; 
But,  och  !  it  hardens  a'  within, 

And  petrifies  the  feeling  !  " 

A  woman  heard  him  and  stopped. 
She  looked  at  the  graceful  figure  with  arms  raised  to 
his  eyes,  and  paused  because  she  pitied. 

He  looked  up  and  recognized  Lizzie  Priestley. 


86  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Did  you  hear  me,  too  ?  " 

"  I  did,  Colonel  Hamilton." 

"  Could  you  understand  the  poetry  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  can  when  I  remember  a  scene  the  Sun 
day  after  we  arrived  in  Pennsylvania.  That  fine-looking 
woman  has  probably  some  hold  upon  you.  I  thought  so 
at  first  ;  your  conduct,  also,  at  the  reading  of  the  Bible 
lesson  made  me  feel  for  you.  I  wish  to  speak  to  you  like 
a  woman  and  a  friend." 

"  No,"  said  Hamilton;  "  I  cannot  let  a  pure  woman 
share  a  disgraceful  secret." 

"  It  is  not  a  secret  to  me.  I  felt  a  deep  sensibility  and 
friendship  for  you  the  day  we  met,  and  to  share  your 
repentance  can  be  no  stain.  Go  to  your  wife  !  Make 
her  the  sharer  of  this  secret,  too  !  Then  everything 
will  be  passed  in  one  hour  of  anguish  and  you  wijl  be 
free." 

"  'St !  Prenez  garde !  "  lisped  Hamilton,  "my  wife  is 
here.  Let  me  present  her." 

Mrs.  Hamilton  looked  disturbed,  and  her  mettlesome 
little  figure  trembled. 

"  Sir,"  she  said,  "  I  merely  paused  at  the  gate  to  have 
you  take  me  home.  Have  I  disturbed  a  confidential 
talk?" 

The  wife's  escort  to  the  spot  was  Aaron  Burr. 


CHAPTER  X. 

HAL    AND    MARIA. 


u 


STRANGE,  my  dear,"  said  Doctor  Priestley  to  his 
wife,  "  that  of  all  the  English  liberals  who  raved  about 
the  Susquehanna — Coleridge,  Campbell,  Lloyd,  Words 
worth — I  am  the  only  one  to  come  here.  What  do  you 
think  of  our  Northumberland  ?  " 

"  It  will  do,  Joe.  Nothing  can  surpass  the  rivers  which 
meet  at  our  door,  nature's  looking-glasses  ;  and  the  big 
hill  across  there  to  the  west  stands  like  a  buffalo,  such  as, 
they  say,  roamed  here  since  we  were  born.  As  for  the 
Indians,  I  seem  to  see  them  every  time  an  ark  or  raft 
floats  on  the  rivers." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  "87 

"  They  passed  away,  Mary,  hardly  ten  years  ago,  and 
now  the  Indians  have  no  homes  in  Pennsylvania." 

"  Thank  Heaven,  then,  that  we  are  out  of  wars  and 
conflicts.  I  do  hope,  my  dear  husband,  that  you  will  let 
all  politics  and  controversy  alone.  Beware  of  the  eager, 
interfering  spirit  of  Thomas  Cooper !  " 

*•  Here  he  is,  Mary.  Now,  Thomas,  how  have  you  set 
tled  yourself  ?  " 

"  I  tried  Sunbury,  but  it  was  too  far  from  you  and 
Mary.  So  here  I  am,  a  member  of  the  Northumberland 
bar,  right  at  your  side.  To-day  the  Jeffersonians  are 
to  raise  a  liberty-pole  and  defy  Hamilton,  and,  no  doubt, 
there  will  be  fighting,  and  some  clients  for  me.  I  am 
against  the  government;  so  are  you." 

"  Against  the  government  ?  Again  ?  "  called  Mrs. 
Priestley,  with  a  pale  face.  "  For  whom  can  you  be  ?  " 

"  For  the  resistants,  of  course." 

"  Do  you  mean  rioters  ?  Thomas,  it  was  the  govern 
ment  that  paid  us  for  our  property  destroyed  at  Bir 
mingham.  Even  that  government  was  better  than  none. 
It  acknowledged  a  responsibility,  though  my  husband 
and  you  had  been  against  it." 

"  Oh!  put  on  your  hat,  Mother  Priestley,  and  come  out 
and  see  the  frontiersmen,  your  fellow-citizens.  The 
town  is  filling  up." 

They  left  the  large  log  house  where  they  were  stopping 
and  descended  a  hilly  lane  to  the  banks  of  the  beautiful 
river,  upon  the  green,  natural  turf  of  which  was  the  ex 
cavation  for  Doctor  Priestley's  mansion,  and  the  frame 
work  and  other  building  material  lay  copiously  around. 
But  the  laborers  were  gone  to  lose  their  time  in  the  po 
litical  affray,  and  poor  Doctor  Priestley,  who  had  hoped 
to  get  in  his  house  by  spring,  made  a  loud — 

"  Tut  !  tut  !   tut  !  " 

Lizzie  Priestley  and  Mrs.  Reynolds  were  seated  on  the 
building  material,  looking  at  a  large  green  island,  over 
which  barely  peeped  the  hamlet  of  Sunbury,  and  the  wide 
meadow  or  delta  between  the  mountains  on  the  other 
side. 

Fall  birds  were  making  melody  everywhere  ;  willows 
drooped  greenly  to  the  current,  intermixed  with  crimson 
and  lemon-colored  arborage  ;  the  large  stream  went  on 
ward  with  a  full  sound  like  ocean  waves  under  a  ship,  and 


88  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

where  it  joined  a  greater  river,  just  beyond,  their  united 
width  seemed  to  be  a  mile. 

Little  Northumberland  town,  of  which  the  Priestleys 
had  heard  so  much,  occupied  the  terrace  between  these 
two  mighty  streams,  which  here  were  still  a  hundred 
miles  above  a  tide,  and  three  hundred  miles  inland  from  the 
sea  ;  and  yet  these  antlers  of  the  Susquehanna,  forming 
the  united  stream,  came  each  from  two  hundred  to  three 
hundred  miles  farther  up  and  rose  three  hundred  miles 
apart. 

The  Susquehanna  drained  twice  more  land  than 
Egypt. 

The  Priestleys  expected  that  this  river  would  be  im 
proved  and  carry  the  products  of  all  inland  America 
speedily  past  their  door  ;  all  Western  New  York,  all  be 
tween  the  lakes  and  New  Orleans.  Hence  they  had 
selected  their  home. 

Alas  !  Governor  Mifflin  was  giving  his  eleven  years  of 
rule  not  to  navigation  but  to  politics,  and  the  New-Yorkers 
tapped  the  Susquehanna  at  the  head  and  took  all  the 
trade  off  to  the  Hudson.  When  Priestley  went  to  the  Sus 
quehanna  two  thousand  arks  of  grain  a  year  passed  his 
door  ;  soon  after  he  died  the  commerce  of  the  stream  was 
as  dead  as  the  Indians. 

"  What  a  joy  to  a  poor  old  woman,"  spoke  Mary 
Priestley  through  her  tears,  "  to  anticipate  my  rest  and 
my  grave  in  this  delightful,  illimitable  vale,  where  the 
spirits  of  so  many  waters  shall  flow  past  me  and  the  kin- 
dredship  of  a  gentle  people  shall  respect  my  husband's 
name  !  O  Joe  !  feel  the  breath  of  this  golden  air,  and 
thank  the  Lord  who  mixed  it  for  us  in  the  cup  of  such 
skies  and  streams." 

"  It  is  a  little  larger,  Mary,  than  the  Vale  of  Llangollen, 
where  vou  took  me.  My  apprehensions  are  all  passed 
since  you  and  the  children  are  not  disappointed." 

Mr.  Cooper  called  them  all  away  to  go  up  into  the  town 
and  see  the  Liberty-pole. 

They  ascended  the  slope  from  the  water  and  found  the 
humble  homes  of  Northumberland  agitated  with  the  first 
real  occurrence  in  its  brief  history. 

Everybody  was  either  moving  toward  the  market  space 
or  looking  from  the  low  doors  toward  it,  while  boisterous 
children  ran  back  to  give  the  news.  Much  of  the  popula- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  89 

tion  was  English,  not  long  moved  to  the  country,  and 
these  in  general  stood  back,  as  did  the  later  German  vil 
lagers. 

But  when  the  Priestley  party  came  to  the  widening  in 
the  market  street  they  beheld  a  hundred  men  or  more 
around  a  forest  pole,  dancing,  drinking  of  free  liquor, 
brandishing  staves,  and  striking  the  pole  in  procession 
around  it,  meantime  uttering  whoops  like  Indians. 

The  pole  was  seen,  on  nearer  inspection,  to  be  driven 
full  of  nails,  so  that  no  person  could  climb  it  to  cut  down 
the  flag  which  waved  from  its  top  and  plainly  showed  the 
words  : 

"  LIBERTY    AND    NO     EXCISE." 

Just  as  the  philosopher's  group  drew  near  there  ap 
peared  a  singular  commotion  at  the  corner  where  this 
pole  was  being  guarded,  and  all  the  boisterous  people 
there  faced  away  from  the  Priestleys  and  gave  their 
curiosity  to  two  strong,  hale  old  men,  who  advanced  down 
the  green  and  brought  between  them  a  rather  reluctant 
yet  frightened  citizen.  To  these  the  crowd  around  the 
pole  advanced  threateningly,  yelling,  cursing,  pointing 
to  the  flag,  and  it  was  manifest,  both  from  their  counte 
nances  and  actions,  that  they  were  nearly  all  Irish-bred 
people. 

"Advance,  you  cowardly  and  false  magistrate  !"  called 
one  of  these  old  men  to  the  person  they  had  fetched 
along.  "  Order  that  standard  of  rebellion  to  be  pulled 
down  ! 

"  Gentlemen,  I  can't  resist  the  people,"  answered  the 
magistrate  or  justice  of  the  peace.  "The  people  is 
sovereigns  and  they  put  up  the  pole.  Jedge  Wilson, 
excuse  me.  Jedge  MacPherson,  don't  scrouge  the  Free 
men  of  Northumberlin  !  " 

"  Three  cheers  for  Dan  Montgomery  an'  no  excise  !  " 
came  from  the  crowd,  and  they  formed  around  the  two 
determined  old  men  as  the  loud  yells  ceased,  intent  to 
frighten  them  or  to  do  them  bodily  harm. 

"  What  is  that  thing  the  man  behind  Judge  WTilson  is 
raising?  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Priestley. 

"  That  ?  "  answered  Mr.  Cooper,  looking.  "  Why  that's 
an  Indian  tomahawk." 

As  they  looked,  the  braggart  or  drunkard  who  held  the 


90  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

hatchet-thing  aloft  and  wore  a  big  fur  cap,  was  set  upon 
by  a  stout  boy  in  corduroy  clothes,  who  raised  both 
doubled  hands  and  by  fair  blows  knocked  the  fellow 
down. 

At  least  three  female  screams  came  from  the  Priest 
ley  party,  for  all  had  recognized  in  the  defender  of  his 
country's  judges  young  Harry,  the  baby  of  the  family. 

Harry  Priestley  was  down  in  a  moment  and  a  savage 
and  intoxicated  crowd  was  tumbling  upon  him.  But 
when  his  parents  thought  him  dead  he  was  seen  to  come 
up  and  to  be  fighting  yet,  taking  advantage  of  no  weapon, 
laying  on  with  honest  hands  and  scattering  the  wildly 
attired  assailants  from  him  by  skilful  blows  and  cool 
selection. 

"  Down  with  the  dirty  Buckskins !  Down  with  the 
drunkards  and  rebels  !  "  came  voices  from  the  respectable 
edges  of  the  crowd,  and  the  battle  widened  till  it  seemed 
that  half  the  population  would  be  found  murdered,  at 
least.  The  Priestleys  were  afraid  to  retire  while  their  son 
was  surrounded,  and  were  yet  amazed  to  stay. 

Many  of  the  trespassers  wore  remnants  of  Indian  or 
forest  dress — moccasins,  fringed  breeches  of  deer-hide, 
hunting  shirts,  caps  of  skin.  In  the  melee  the  naked  feet, 
hips,  or  backs  of  these  wild  runners  of  the  woods  were 
often  seen  flashing  in  the  air,  as  they  leaped  or  rebounded, 
or  were  thrown  violently  up. 

A  kennel  of  dogs  fighting  over  a  few  bones  would  have 
made  no  less  and  no  more  gnashing,  clinching  of  teeth, 
yelling,  and  somersaulting. 

At  last  the  combat  seemed  to  end  by  general  exhaustion 
on  both  sides,  and  the  two  parties  retired  from  each  other 
and  left,  in  the  space  between,  the  two  old  judges  of  that 
vast  frontier  County,  which  reached  from  the*Blue  Moun 
tains  to  Lake  Erie. 

As  Harry  Priestley  limped  back  to  the  place  where  his 
family  were  grouped,  the  judge  he  had  protected  drew  a 
paper  from  his  pocket  and  advanced  toward  the  flag-pole, 
supported  only  by  the  other  judge,  MacPherson. 

Both  of  these  men  were  of  serious  and  authoritative 
bearing,  more  military  looking  than  judicial,  and  yet  so 
manifestly  superior  to  the  bandit  crew  they  confronted 
that  some  of  these  drew  back  and  slunk  downward, 
whilst  whiskey  was  rapidly  and  unlimitedly  drawn  from 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  9! 

a  barrel  at  the  base  of  the  flag-pole  to  refresh  the  rioters 
and  keep  their  refractory  spirits  up. 

"  Hear  the  reading  of  the  riot  act  !  "  exclaimed  the 
senior  judge.  "  There  may  be  some  of  you  too  ignorant 
to  understand  your  duty." 

He  read  an  order  of  his  court,  or  the  State,  to  suppress 
disorder;  but  active  emissaries  of  some  mysterious  power 
— whether  that  of  politics  or  alcoholic  commerce  was  not 
clear — kept  plying  the  whiskey,  hallooing,  sneering,  and 
making  interruptions,  so  that  few  could  hear  or  tried  to 
do  so. 

"  Now,"  spoke  the  judge,  as  he  took  off  his  spectacles 
and  put  them  in  a  leather  case,  "  here  stand  two  men, 
Judge  MacPherson  and  myself,  who  were  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  line,  protecting  the  liberties  of  our  country,  when 
such  as  you,  who  would  insult  us  if  you  could,  were  boil 
ing  whiskey  in  the  mountains — you  and  your  fathers — 
to  sell  it  to  the  quartermasters  for  our  army  rations. " 

"  Down  with  the  old  fool  !  Crack  his  skull  !  "  came 
voices  from  around  the  whiskey  barrel,  as  their  breathed 
and  re-stimulated  instruments  moved  forward  again. 

"I  tell  you,"  cried  the  old  man,  uthat  we  are  still  the 
soldiers  of  our  old  general,  against  whose  proclamation 
that  pole  and  that  flag  of  treason  have  been  raised.  It 
shall  come  down  !  Your  justice  of  the  peace  has  played 
the  varlet  to  this  day's  disloyalty,  but  there  is  a  law,  also, 
for  him." 

A  musket,  handed  from  back  in  the  crowd  to  a  desper 
ate-looking  fellow,  was  pointed  directly  at  Judge  Wil 
son  as  he  marked  the  derelict  borough  squire  with  his 
finger. 

"  Down  with  him  !  Kill  him  !  "  cried  a  hundred  cow 
ardly  voices. 

The  judge,  turning  his  head  from  the  local  justice  of 
the  peace,  looked  with  the  greatest  coclness  and  con 
tempt  a  moment  into  the  barrel  of  the  flint-lock  musket, 
though  the  assassin's  finger  was  on  the  trigger. 

Then  he  drew  from  the  pocket  of  his  large  coat-skirt 
a  mighty  pistol,  that  seemed  big  as  the  spirit  of  giant 
courage  in  his  eye,  and  cocked  it  and  extended  it  without 
taking  his  glance  from  the  tall  Celt  before  him. 

"  Put  that  musket  down,  or  I'll  blow  your  brains  out," 
quietly  said  the  judge. 


92  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

The  fellow  dropped  his  musket  in  the  ecstasy  of  fear. 

For  a  moment  there  was  a  pause,  and  then  voices 
cried  : 

"  Jedge  Wilson's  broke  the  law.  He's  pulled  a  gun 
on  a  feller-citizen." 

"  Arrest  Jedge  Wilson  !  Arrest  him,  Dan  Montgom 
ery  !  "  shouted  the  multitude. 

Again  that  pliable  local  demagogue,  the  justice  of  the 
peace,  shrank  before  the  crowd  and  smiled  at  them. 

"Jedge  Wilson,"  fawned  he,  "the  law  ag'in  pulling  a 
firearm  on  a  feller-citizen  is  well  known  to  you.  Sir,  I 
take  you  in  custody  for  wiolation  of  a  law." 

"I  stand  committed,"  said  the  judge.  "  I  forgot  my 
self  in  the  presence  of  scoundrels  like  these  and  thought 
I  was  a  soldier  again." 

"  To  jail  with  him  !  To  Sunberry  jail  !  "  howled  these 
Jacobins  of  the  woods,  little  different  from  the  Jacobins 
of  Paris  but  yesterday. 

"  To  jail  with  me,  Montgomery? "  replied  the  veteran. 
"  I  defy  you  !  " 

"  I  reckon  I  must  have  bail,  then,  Jedge  Wilson.  The 
offence,  I  reckon,  is  bailable." 

"  Mr.  Justice,"  said  Doctor  Priestley,  coming  forward, 
"I  desire  to  see  no  evil  happen  this  day  among  my  towns 
people.  Let  me  take  Judge  Wilson  to  my  lodgings  and 
be  responsible  for  him." 

"  Oh!  shorely,  shorely,  Doctor  Priestley.  You  will  be 
quite  sufficient  security,  I  reckon,"  cried  the  shuffling 
justice. 

"  Come,  gentlemen,  and  dine  with  me,"  the  doctor 
said  to  the  judges.  "  You  are  not  able  to  deal  with  these 
persons,  and  you  have  discharged  your  duties  faithfully." 

The  old  judge  was  much  excited  by  the  use  the  rioters 
had  made  of  him,  inflaming  him  to  courage  and  then  ar 
resting  him  as  a  statute-breaker.  He  bowed  his  head 
and  moved  away,  while,  to  the  tune  of  a  pair  of  fiddles, 
the  disturbers  danced  a  kind  of  savage  carmagnole 
around  the  liberty-pole  of  Northumberland. 

"  Let  them  dance,"  spoke  the  other  judge.  "  Mind 
them  not,  brother  Wilson;  The  spirit  of  Washington 
and  Hamilton  is  on  the  way  and  will  soon  be  here." 

"  Now,  father,"  cried  Mrs.  Priestley,  when  they  had 
reached  Priestley's  lodging,  "brew  thee  one  of  Doctor 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  93 

Franklin's  punches  for  these  gentlemen  and  for  poor  Hal 
here,  who  has  barely  come  out  with  his  life." 

"  Let  me  do  that,"  interposed  Mr.  Cooper. 

He  gave  them  some  hot  water  out  of  a  strange  appar 
atus  in  the  room,  and  from  another  cistern  in  the  same 
thing  supplied  spirits. 

''Judge  Wilson,"  said  Judge  MacPherson,  "  I  bethink 
me  that  society  will  have  a  whole  century  before  it  to 
control  whiskey  and  its  abuses." 

"Yonder  skulkers,"  answered  Judge  Wilson,  "waxed 
and  grew  fat  on  spirit-stilling  in  their  secluded  mountains, 
recruited  by  our  deserters  in  the  war,  and  such  as  they 
have  set  all  taxation  at  defiance  since  the  day  of  William 
Penn.  Of  late  they  have  made  a  good  thing  by  'stilling 
for  our  armies  to  the  Ohio,  under  St.  Clair  and  Wayne. 
But  this  insurrection  is  deeper  than  whiskey.  Its  griev 
ances  were  all  beyond  the  mountains,  and  why  is  it  here 
in  the  Forks  of  the  Susquehanna  ?  Eternal  scorn  be 
Tom  Mifflin's  reward  for  letting  this  miserable  smoke  of 
still-houses  consume  half  of  Pennsylvania  !  " 

"  Here  is  the  doom  of  the  hand-still,  gentlemen,"  cried 
Cooper,  with  his  hand  upon  the  mysterious  apparatus. 
"  This  is  the  model  from  Count  Rumford's  suggestions 
on  distilling  by  steam,  and  you  owe  to  Doctor  Priestley 
the  liquor  you  are  drinking.  Steam  will  allow  capital  to 
enter  the  distilling  business  and  break  up  these  many 
little  excise  violators." 

"Ah,  Doctor  Priestley,"  Judge  Wilson  said,  "if  your 
science  is  to  extend  your  fame  in  America,  it  must  be 
practical  science  like  that.  The  politics  opposed  to 
President  Washington  and  the  nation  is  nothing  but  re 
sistance  to  civilization.  In  all  our  States  is  a  low,  illit 
erate  element  which  considers  disobedience  to  courts, 
legislatures,  and  Congress  to  be  smart.  Even  in  Massa 
chusetts  this  element  assaulted  the  judges  and  produced 
a  revolt,  but  though  three  thousand  rebels  were  under 
arms.  General  Lincoln  opened  on  them  with  cannon,  saved 
the  arsenal  at  Springfield,  and  after  they  were  routed  he 
pursued  them  forty  miles  by  night  in  the  snow  and  broke 
their  conceit  at  one  blow.  Instead  of  a  Lincoln  in  Penn 
sylvania  we  have  a  governor  who  never  fought  a  battle, 
never  ceased  to  be  a  politician,  was  dismissed  from 
Washington's  staff  for  starting  a  panic  in  the  army  when 


94  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

he  was  sent  with  an  order,  and  who  then,  in  revenge, 
formed  the  Gates  cabal  to  destroy  Washington.  He  is 
the  shallow  tool  of  this  other  skulker,  Jefferson,  in  Vir 
ginia,  whom  we  suspect  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  this  Whis 
key  insurrection. 

"  That  is  not  true,  sir,"  bluntly  exclaimed  Mr.  Cooper. 

The  two  Pennsylvania  judges,  stern  official  members  of 
the  Scotch-Irish  race,  looked  at  Cooper  for  the  first  time 
with  inquiry. 

"  I  take  it  for  granted,  young  man,"  said  Judge  Mac- 
Pherson,  "  that  you  would  not  use  language  like  that  to 
your  senior,  my  associate,  unless  you  knew  positively  Mr. 
Jefferson's  relations  ?" 

u  I  do,"  boldly  answered  Cooper.  "  Mr.  Jefferson  is 
my  friend." 

Judge  Wilson  listened,  his  fine  profile  silvery  with  in 
telligence  and  time. 

"  You  are  a  friend  of  Jefferson  ? "  said  he.  "  You 
will  make  a  witness,  then,  in  his  favor  when  this  proceed 
ing  is  punished.  You  will  be  able  to  testify  that  he  never 
incited  yourself,  for  example,  to  disobey  the  laws  or  im 
pair  the  union  of  the  States  ?  " 

The  lawyer,  reading  witness  or  criminal  by  the  light 
of  truth,  was  in  the  old  man's  eye.  As  Mr.  Cooper  was 
about  to  reply  violently,  Mrs.  Priestley  commanded  him 
to  peace. 

William  Priestley  entered  with  an  agitated  face,  and  said 
that  the  mob  had  broken  into  the  arsenal  at  Northumber 
land  and  armed  themselves  with  the  State  muskets. 

"  Ha!  "  exclaimed  the  associate  judge.  "  Is  that  the 
use  they  would  put  the  old  muskets  of  liberty  to  ? " 

"  I  will  return,"  Judge  Wilson  announced.  "  MacPher- 
son,  I  summon  you  as  my  posse.  Shake  my  hand,  old 
comrade,  as  this  may  be  the  last  action  we  shall  fight  to 
gether." 

The  two  Revolutionary  comrades,  with  something  of 
the  expression  of  man  and  wife  parting,  placed  their 
hands  silently  together. 

The  scene  touched  Thomas  Cooper,  and  he  also  drew 
near  and  extended  his  hand. 

"  You  are  two  grand  old  fellows,"  he  said  ;  "  take  my 
hand,  too." 

Still  keeping  their  palms  clasped,  the  two  judges  turned 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  95 

their  eyes  on  Mr.  Cooper  and  kept  their  countenances 
very  sober. 

"  Young  sir,"  Judge  Wilson  coldly  remarked.  "  we  are 
not  the  friends  of  Mr.  Jefferson." 

"No,"  remarked  Judge  MacPherson,  "  we  are  the 
friends  of  Washington.  I  do  not  think  you  wish  to 
shake  hands  with  such  as  we." 

Raising  their  hats  to  the  Priestley  family,  the  magis 
trates  of  Xorthumberland  passed  away. 

Mrs.  Priestley  burst  into  tears. 

"  Well,  Thomas,"  she  sobbed,  "  you  have  made  our 
first  enemies  for  us  already." 

"  Pshaw  !  pshaw  !  "  exclaimed  Cooper,  dogmatically. 
"  I  will  sit  on  the  bench  myself  some  day  in  place  of  one 
of  those  old  Federal  fools.  And  this  is  a  good  election 
eering  day." 

He  rushed  from  the  house. 

The  little  market  space,  or  Quaker  square,  at  the  cen 
tre  of  the  town  was  nearly  surrounded  by  houses,  chiefly 
of  hewn  logs  or  clapboards,  over  whose  low-pitched  roofs 
the  lines  of  blue  and  russet  mountains  stalked  through 
the  sky  like  enormous  pistons  that  were  one  day  to  draw 
the  coal  from  their  depths.  Between  the  tenements  the 
broad  rivers  were  seen  to  advance  in  white  lines,  tacti 
cally,  like  meeting  armies,  to  storrn  the  great  skyey 
ridges.  The  sun  was  warm,  but  airs  came  in  from  many 
a  gap  and  mountain  funnel  to  blow  alternate  ways  the 
flag  inscribed: 

"LIBERTY  AND  NO  EXCISE," 

which  was  the  master  of  Northumberland,  and,  therefore, 
master  of  almost  one-third  of  Pennsylvania. 

As  Cooper  reached  the  square  a  volley  of  musketry 
shook  the  town  and  the  smoke  of  guns  rolled  up  in  a 
cloud  around  the  flag-pole. 

Citizens  closed  their  shutters  and  ran  indoors. 

A  few  persons  were  standing  armed  at  the  corners  of 
their  shops  and  dwellings,  peeping  at  the  lawless  scene 
around  the  liberty-pole,  where  still  the  barrel  of  whis 
key  was  running  fiendishly,  and  many  of  its  victims  were 
strewn  about  the  square  like  hogs  at  noonday,  sleeping 
off  their  brutishness. 


96  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

The  volley  of  guns  brought  forth  young  Harry  Priest 
ley,  whose  blood  was  aroused  at  the  invasion  of  the  village 
by  these  kern,  who  had  dispossessed  the  better  Indians. 

He  had  been  working  all  day  on  his  land,  grubbing, 
ploughing,  staking,  with  the  incentive  of  love  and  do 
mestic  settlement  in  his  mind,  till  summoned  back  to  the 
town  by  messengers  who  went  through  the  responsible 
communities  to  tell  how  the  Buckskins  had  taken  North 
umberland.  His  arrival  had  saved  at  least  one  good 
magistrate  from  insult,  and  now  he  was  intent  upon  en 
rolling  himself  with  the  men  of  law  and  order  and  taking 
a  gun.  Thus  quickly  do  the  necessities  of  a  new  society 
transform  the  European  to  be  an  American  ! 

The  rude  men  at  the  flag-staff  looked  upon  this  little 
struggling  Northumberland,  with  its  hundred  houses  or 
less  and  hardly  organized  society,  to  be  a  formidable 
mart  of  proud  and  oppressive  capitalists. 

It  was  to  extort  taxes  from  them  and  disturb  their 
simple  methods  of  firing  barns  and  expelling  persons  of 
obnoxious  pride. 

A  person  called  a  "  chimist "  had  come  to  North 
umberland,  they  understood,  who  denied  God  and  could 
'still  whiskey  out  of  the  naked  air  and  dew. 

What  would  be  the  end  of  existence  if  such  infidel  men 
of  education  were  to  prevail  and  all  the  judges  be  above 
the  power  of  the  people  ? 

Down  with  pride  !     Down  with  consideration  ! 

These  were  the  instincts  of  self-esteem  engendered  by 
isolation  and  supplied  with  grievances  by  political  ex 
pectants. 

As  the  obnoxious  judges,  whose  veteran  pride  in  the 
laws  and  government  their  arms  had  helped  to  establish 
reentered  the  square,  they  were  espied  from  the  flag-pole 
and  greeted  with  hootings  and  whoops.  Guns  were  fired 
in  the  air,  or  low  toward  the  earth,  to  tell  the  tale  the 
terrified  townsmen  confirmed,  that  the  small  arsenal  had 
been  plundered  of  flint-locks  and  powder,  and  the  tres 
passers  were  stronger  than  the  townsmen. 

Hal  Priestley  put  himself  under  the  orders  of  the  judges, 
and  these  three  started  separately  through  Northumber 
land  to  summon  the  law-abiding  to  meet  under  the  ter 
race  bank  by  Priestley's  house  site. 

There  at  noon  a  little  company  was  assembled,  hardly 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  97 

thirty  strong  ;  but  the  two  magistrates  took  it  in  hand, 
assorted  it,  paraded  it,  and  gave  it  instructions  and  con 
fidence. 

"  MacPherson,"  commanded  Wilson,  "  do  you  take 
one  platoon  and  march  to  the  square  from  the  North 
Branch  and  parade  your  men  ;  I  will  lead  the  other 
platoon  under  the  bank  of  the  West  Branch  and  bring  it 
quickly  up  in  their  rear,  and  occupy  the  corner  at  the 
flag-pole." 

This  plan  was  intelligently  carried  out,  so  that  as  the 
armed  party  under  MacPherson  emerged  at  the  square 
and  faced  the  mob,  these  latter  made  a  rush  upon  them, 
leaving  the  flag-staff. 

Judge  Wilson's  party  silently  dashed  up  the  bank  and 
formed  at  the  flag-pole,  after  destroying  the  whiskey. 

The  two  regular  lines  then  faced  each  other  and  ad 
vanced  with  the  steady  bearing  of  militia,  their  experi 
enced  officers  looking  like  war  itself,  and  uttering  their 
commands  sharp  and  loud. 

Wavering  before  these  silent,  solemn,  attenuated  lines, 
to  which  the  judiciary  gave  the  prestige  of  law,  the 
Buckskins  broke,  anticipating  a  volley  from  front  and 
rear,  and  ran  up  the  square  to  a  forest  graveyard  beyond 
it — already  the  last  home  of  many  an  immigrant. 

"  Give  here  an  axe,  some  of  you  women  !  "  cried  Wil 
son,  "  to  chop  down  this  sedition  pole." 

He  had  turned  toward  the  environing  houses. 

A  woman  ran  to  her  wood-pile  and  fetched  an  axe,  but 
before  she  could  reach  the  spot,  her  married  sister,  who 
belonged  to  the  other  faction,  tripped  her  up,  and  these 
two  women  fought  together  with  more  passion  than  good 
humor,  till  the  owner  of  the  axe  prevailed. 

A  practised  axeman  took  the  instrument,  and  by  a  few 
rapid  blows  felled  the  flag-pole. 

Cheers  ascended  from  the  victors,  but  they  omitted  to 
put  a  watch  upon  the  now  deeply  exasperated  borderers, 
who  repeated  the  tactics  they  had  just  learned,  one  body 
of  them  advancing  down  the  public  square  in  skirmish 
ing  line,  armed  and  yelling,  while  another  body  crept 
along  the  river  front,  and,  dashing  upon  the  flank  of  the 
posse,  fired  their  guns  in  a  deafening  volley,  which  was 
immediately  replied  to  by  a  second  volley  from  the  larger 
party  in  front. 


98  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

These  loud  volleys  dismayed  the  town,  and  produced 
a  panic  for  a  moment  among  the  judges '  posse,  but  the 
two  military  men  were  heard  to  give  the  word  : 

"  Form  your  lines  !  Outward  face  !  Look  to  your 
priming.  At  the  word  of  command,  fire  ball!" 

Even  official  blood  was  up  now,  and  the  townspeople 
expected  to  see  another  Lexington  or  Concord  on  their 
public  green,  when  there  came  floating  upon  the  air, 
to  both  bands  of  inflamed  men,  the  sounds  of  fife  and 
drum. 

Nearer  and  nearer  the  unwonted  music  came  ;  windows 
and  doors  opened  as  if  to  its  persuasive  power,  and  next 
there  burst  upon  the  view  a  military  company,  carrying 
the  colors  of  both  the  State  and  the  nation. 

"  Fix  bayonets  !     Front  wheel  !     Charge  !  " 

At  this  command,  the  new  arrivals  to  the  sound  of  fife 
and  drum  moved  upon  the  greater  body  of  Buckskins, 
who  broke  and  fled  beyond  the  borders  of  the  town, 
while  the  \oca\jp0sse  also  bore  down  upon  the  subsidiary 
column  of  sedition,  and  chased  it  through  the  outbuild 
ings  to  the  brush. 

With  loud  acclaims  the  townspeople  poured  to  the 
green,  and  mingled  their  cheers  with  those  of  the  sol 
diery  ;  and  water,  food,  and  new  cider  were  produced  to 
reward  the  town's  deliverers. 

In  the  midst  of  this  apparent  conclusion  of  many 
troubles,  a  small  body  of  horsemen  galloped  upon  the 
square,  wonderfully  epauletted  and  slashed  with  colors. 

"  Three  cheers  for  Governor  Mifflin  !  "  exclaimed  a  fat 
and  yet  stalwart  lieutenant  of  the  military  company  which 
had  so  opportunely  marched  in  from  Lancaster  County. 

As  the  cheers  were  given,  Mrs.  Reynolds,  who  had 
come  to  the  scene  with  Harry  Priestley,  recognized  in 
this  military  Falstaff  her  husband,  from  whom  she  had 
fled — Jacob  Clingman. 

"  And  three  cheers  for  the  right  worthy  Senator  from 
the  State  of  New  York,  Colonel  Aaron  Burr  !  " 

Turning  from  Clingman's  voice  to  the  point  where 
Clingman  looked,  Maria  Livingston  saw  in  the  demure 
riding  habits  of  a  foreign  traveller,  and  neat  enough  to 
have  been  the  governor's  staff  chaplain,  the  man  who  had 
given  her  the  money  to  come  to  Northumberland — the 
man  she  disliked  and  feared,  Aaron  Burr. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  99 

A  hogshead  was  rolled  up  from  a  neighboring  store 
house  and  the  governor  was  lifted  upon  it  to  make  a 
speech.  He  was  a  sort  of  local  Washington,  portly,  well- 
fed  ;  his  hair,  whitish  at  fifty,  tied  in  a  queue  ;  and  he  had 
the  mingled  lines  of  the  lofty  worldling  and  the  peaceful 
Friend.  Toward  the  crowd  he  was  a  father  indeed,  and 
rolled  out  the  word  Pennsyl-vain-yea  as  if  the  sermons 
of  George  Fox  had  been  his  tuning-master. 

As  Pennsylvanians  he  adjured  them  to  enlist  in  the 
army  to  put  the  insurrection  down.  As  Americans  he 
never  addressed  them. 

,  The  stern  vigor  of  Washington  and  the  firm  and  prompt 
responses  of  the  adjacent  States  had  put  in  jeopardy  Mr. 
Mifflin's  chief  political  capital,  his  military  standing.  He 
was  therefore  "stumping"  the  State  to  raise  the  troops 
he  had  refused  to  raise  as  the  magistrate  who  should  have 
taken  early  cognizance  of  the  outbreak. 

As  a  speaker  to  the  crowd  he  was  the  perfection  of 
that  cajoling  art — loud,  gracious,  animated,  pious,  prac 
tising  the  rush  of  the  blood  to  the  head,  which  was  the  rarest 
feat  of  the  stumper — flattering  the  local  pride,  assuring 
all  that  there  would  be  no  trouble,  hinting  that  the  Fed 
eral  army  would  leave  all  its  money  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
finally  pledging  himself,  "  before  his  God,"  that  the  excise 
laws  should  be  speedily  repealed. 

Before  night  the  governor  was  boozy,  and  to  the  last 
was  exercising  his  vocal  art  on  imaginary  audiences. 

The  two  judges  indicated  the  chief  spirits  of  the  day's 
disorders,  and  these  were  sent  to  Philadelphia  for  trial — 
among  the  first  culprits  seized  in  the  insurrection. 

Mr.  Thomas  Cooper  proclaimed  himself  their  coun 
sel,  and  so  the  government  men  looked  askant  at  Doctor 
Priestley. 

As  the  public  speaking  concluded.  Colonel  Burr  came 
over  to  Mrs.  Reynolds  and  Mrs.  Lizzie  Priestley,  who 
were  looking  oi>,  and  he  introduced  a  plain,  travel- 
worn  personage  with  him  as  the  Duke  de  Liancourt, 
who  was  going  to  the  Genesee  to  look  at  Mr.  Burr's 
lands. 

They  were  taking  pleasure  in  such  a  distinguished  ar 
rival  when  there  broke  into  the  circle  the  huge  being 
aforesaid,  whose  regimentals  were  splashed  and  dusty  and 
his  countenance  grimy  with  perspiration  and  dirt. 


100  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Jehosophat  of  sinners  ! "  exclaimed  Lieutenant 
Clingman.  "  What  does  J.  C.  see  but  his'n  truly,  Mari ! 
O  Mari  !  your  cruelty  has  busted  this  gizzard.  Etarnally 
deserted  by  her'n  truly,  Clingman  has  helped  to  raise  a 
company  and  may  perish  in  the  war." 

"  Jake,"  answered  the  lady,  coolly,  "  get  out  of  the 
company  of  your  betters  !  Don't  you  open  your  mouth 
to  me  again  !  " 

Her  languid  eyes  showed  a  spirit.  The  young  English 
man  at  her  side  she  suppressed  by  retaining  his  hand 
firmly  in  her  own. 

"  Begone,  fellow  !  "  exclaimed  Aaron  Burr.  , 

"Well,  I  reckon  I'll  forage  on  the  illicit  stills,  then," 
Clingman  observed,  after  a  brief  and  meaning  study  of 
the  social  situation.  "  Whiskey  has  riz.  I've  got  a  sut- 
lery  in  this  army,  too.  Some  day  the  amassments  in 
cash  of  J.  Clingman  will  be  juiceful,  I  reckon,  to  some 
people." 


CHAPTER   XL 

MARIA    BELEAGUERED. 

HARRY  PRIESTLEY  had  a  bad  night  with  his  heart,  the 
excitement  of  the  battle  on  the  green  giving  him,  in  the 
reaction,  a  gasping  pang  there  like  the  last  hour. 

His  mother  and  brother's  wife  wished  to  watch  him, 
but  he  would  have  none  but  Maria. 

"  Leave  her  here,  sweet  folk,"  he  would  say;  "  she  do 
comfort  me  like." 

"Hal,"  pleaded  Maria,  "you  are  too  ambitious.  You 
will  kill  yourself  grubbing  up  those  great  roots.  They 
will  be  there,  Hal,  roots  still,  when  we  are  dead." 

"  'Tis  for  thee  !  "  sighed  Harry,  his  mouth  forced  open 
by  the  suffocation  at  his  heart.  "  If  I  do  not  live,  all  is 
thine." 

The  woman  of  pleasure  listened  to  him  with  sincere 
and  almost  bitter  pity. 

"  Dear  Harry,  my  poor  friend,  let  me  go  back  to  the 
cities  and  so  correct  your  ambition,  which  is  making 
you,  in  a  few  months,  like  all  the  American  race — 
grudging  the  body  sleep  and  the  mind  play.  When  I 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  .IC'I 

am  gone  you  will  not  work  so  hard.  Let  us  quarrel, 
and  you  will  be  saved." 

"  Quarrel  ?  For  what,  my  beautiful  mistress  ?  If  I 
work  too  hard  forthee,!  can  knock  off.  No,  it  is  a  castle 
we  shall  have,  and  overlook  the  vale,  and  our  boat  shall 
aye  be  ready  on  yon  current  to  carry  us  from  the  north 
ern  cataracts  and  glens  to  the  bay  that  is  full  of  rivers. 
Where  is  my  axe?  You  all  keep  me  here  too  long. 
Afield  !  afield,  I  say  !  " 

He  started  up,  full  of  purpose,  and  the  light  of  family 
care  in  his  eye,  but  a  fulness  of  the  heart  seemed  to 
burst  him,  and  drove  forth  a  shriek.  Back  he  sank  in 
Maria's  arms,  and  was  bathed  in  her  tears.  His  heart 
was  very  low,  as  she  knew  by  his  pulse. 

"  O  God  !  "  Maria  sighed.  "  This  may  be  the  ec 
stasy  of  love  telling  upon  a  weak  heart — and  such  pure 
love  for  whom  ?  For  me  ? " 

"  You  surely  are  a  part  of  his  illness,  madame,"  Mrs. 
Priestley  said,  while  the  boy  lay  unconscious.  "  You 
have  displaced  his  mother  and  his  sister.  He  is  clay  in 
your  hands.  And  he  will  be  clay  if  you  leave  him — 
clay,  I  fear,  for  the  grave.  What  are  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  Lizzie  Priestley  took  up  her  mother's  question, 
"  we  desire  to  know  in  whom  our  brother  puts  so  much 
confidence.  You  are  a  wife.  I  have  seen  your  husband. 
What  plague  are  you  to  Colonel  Hamilton  ?  Something 
lies  there,  too.  Next,  this  soldier  on  the  green  to-day  was 
strangely  familiar  with  a  lady  of  your  condition.  Why 
did  you  come  to  Northumberland,  and  come  with  that 
boy?  Was  it  a  plot  ?" 

"  Hush  !  Speak  low,  for  mercy's  sake  !  I  would  not 
have  your  son,  your  babe,  fall  dead  in  contention  with 
you  over  such  a  thing  as  I." 

"  That  might  be  better  than  that  he  should  live  and  be 
the  dupe  of  some  cold  woman  older  than  himself,"  whis 
pered  Lizzie  Priestley. 

"  Stop,  daughter  !  "  Mrs.  Priestley  sighed.  "  I  shall 
bless  the  physician  who  saves  me  my  boy." 

"  Dear  madame" — the  intruder  looked  upon  the  mother 
with  entreaty  and  sympathy — "  that  is  my  only  interest 
here;  not  to  rob  you  of  your  son,  but  to  give  him  back  to 
you  free  from  such  a  bond  as  mine  would  be.  I  shall 
not  stay  one  moment  longer  than  I  can  be  his  cure. 


IC2  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

He  gave  me  assistance,  but  in  the  generous  service  lost 
his  young  heart  to  me.  I  would  at  the  proper,  the 
sovereign  time,  tell  him  how  worthless  is  the  heart  he 
esteems,  and  the  weary,  purposeless  life  he  would  take 
into  his  own.  Surely,  this  is  not  that  opportunity  !  " 

Harry  feebly  murmured  "  Maria  !     Are  you  near  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Hal,  right  at  your  side.  Lie  still,  my  boy,  and 
ease  your  heart." 

"  Dear  love,"  the  sufferer  lisped,  as  he  lay  in  the  half- 
swoon  of  weakness  and  relief. 

"Tell  me  your  power  over  Colonel  Hamilton,"  spoke 
Lizzie  Priestley,  low  and  firm.  "  Answer  me  that  only, 
with  satisfaction,  and  it  will  do." 

The  large,  listless  stranger  quietly  flushed,  as  if 
her  languid  temperature  resisted  passion's  flood.  She 
raised  her  blue  eyes  from  their  dark  woodlands,  and 
replied  : 

"  You  are  a  married  woman,  too.  What  can  be  your 
interest,  madame,  in  Colonel  Hamilton  ?  " 

"  Friendship,"  answered  Lizzie  Priestley,  "  friendship 
such  as  I  dare  avow  before  my  husband's  mother  here. 
And  yours?  " 

"  It  is  love — love  as  fierce  as  your  friendship,  madame. 
I  shall  refuse  to  account  for  it  to  any  woman  but  his 
wife.  Perhaps  not  even  to  her." 

Maria  had  expanded  herself  as  she  gave  this  defiance, 
and  her  hand  trembled.  She  grew  more  agitated  and 
stood  up. 

"  I  hope  your  friendship  for  Hamilton,  madame,"  she 
continued,  "  will  be  more  prudent  than  my  love,  which 
began  in  friendship,  too." 

The  recognition  of  a  rival  in  the  control  of  a  man  was 
the  expression  of  her  countenance,  no  longer  heavy  and 
negligent,  but  obdurate  and  kindled,  too. 

Lizzie  Priestley's  face  also  showed  the  blood,  but  it 
was  in  the  sense  of  recognition  of  the  remarkable,  if 
reckless,  personal  beauty  before  her. 

"  I  am  glad,  Mrs.  Reynolds,  to  see  you  really  angry," 
she  said,  after  a  pause.  "  Now  I  can  see  your  character  ; 
you  fear  nothing." 

"  No,  you  cannot  read  me,  madame,"  Maria  breathed, 
still  under  the  control  of  her  quickened  intellect,  and  cool 
as  the  English  wife.  "  I  fear  to  kill  that  boy.  He  is  my 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  103 

friend,  my  only  one.  When  his  mother  feels  secure  of 
him,  I  shall  go." 

"  Then  stay,"  Mrs.  Priestley  entreated.  "  I  bless  you 
for  the  unspotted,  the  gentle  love  he  bears  for  you.  It 
pleads  to  a  mother's  heart.  It  may  rest  thine  own." 

The  kindness,  the  tones,  the  word,  fell  upon  the  one 
fresh  spot  in  a  trampled  soul.  Maria  Livingston  sank 
to  her  seat,  covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  and 
echoed  : 

"  Mother  !  " 

Her  voice  escaped  confinement  and  awoke  the  drowsy 
youth  from  his  laudanum  dreanx 

"  Mother  ?"  he  muttered.  "  There's  mother  !  Whilst  I 
live  she  will  be  thine.  Kiss  her,  mother  !  " 

Harry's  mother  bent  over  and  took  the  wanderer  in 
her  arms  and  kissed  her  brow. 

"  We  are  all  far  from  home,"  Mrs.  Priestley  breathed. 
"  Let  us  go  not  too  far  from  God  !  Sleep  thee,  also. 
The  love  of  my  boy  will  make  thee  holy  and  rest  thy 
spirit." 

The  cutting  thing  to  Lizzie  Priestley  was  that  her  hus 
band,  Joseph,  Jr.,  also  took  a  very  large  interest  in  Maria 
Reynolds,  and  gave  her  a  horse  to  ride  to  his  farm,  some 
distance  out  of  town. 

She  was  a  stylish,  rather  grand  horsewoman,  requiring 
this  strong  sort  of  exercise  to  bring  her  indolence  up  to 
full  animation. 

Joe  Priestley  was  a  solid,  uninquisitive,  hearty  man, 
giving  himself  concern  about  little  more  than  his  father 
and  his  wife,  and  he  liked  Maria's  independence  and  looked 
upon  her  as  the  detached  woman  of  Northumberland, 
and  cared  nothing  about  the  mystery  which  brought  her 
there.  He  probably  did  not  care  if  his  young  brother 
would  marry  her. 

To  this  stout,  animal  nature  Maria  was  frank  and  free, 
and  equally  self-reliant  were  Mr.  Cooper  and  his  wife, 
except  that  the  latter  was  her  husband's  echo  in  every 
thing,  and  sustained  his  self-confidence  till  it  was  a  match 
for  the  aggregate  opposition  of  mankind. 

u  There,  Mrs.  Reynolds,"  said  Joe  Priestley  the  day 
following  the  riot,  when  he  had  ridden  out  to  the  farm 
with  her,  "  rest  thyself  till  I  pay  off  the  hands.  I  will 
send  Colonel  Burr  when  he  comes  up." 


IO4  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

The  spot  was  a  partial  or  temporary  lodge  in  the  midst 
of  a  wide  patch,  and  shaded  and  watered. 

Maria's  indolence  suppressed  her  curiosity  as  she  lay 
down  where  she  was  left,  in  the  arbored  porch  of  the 
silent  dwelling.  Nothing  stirred  but  the  feet  of  robins 
coming  near  and  piping  and  the  long  drum-roll  of  locusts 
in  the  lofty  trees.  It  was  warm,  though  the  air  was  stir 
ring  between  the  mountain  ridges  and  cooled  by  the  riv 
ers.  The  wild  grapes  upon  the  porch  trellis  swung  in 
the  zephyrs,  leaf  and  cluster  articulating  the  sunshine 
with  quivering  effects,  and  Maria  fell  into  a  doze  that 
was  hardly  a  doze  till  it  was  endorsed  by  some  voices  a 
little  way  off,  carried  to  her  ear  on  the  electrically  dry 
air  of  autumn. 

"  You  will  not  get  the  letters  back,  Clingman,"  spoke 
the  familiar,  suave  voice  of  Aaron  Burr.  "  They  involve 
the  family  name  of  my  great  constituent.  You  have  no 
business  with  matters  of  that  magnitude.  Colonel  Ham 
ilton  is  a  member  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  with  me.  I 
won't  allow  him  to  be  degraded  and  blackmailed  by  such 
as  you." 

"  Damn  him  !  If  I  can  get  a  shot  at  him  up  yer  in 
the  mountains,  whar  they  say  he's  coming  with  the  Pres 
ident,  I'll  squar  accounts  with  his'n  mortually,  A.  H." 

"  Why,  what  do  you  hate  him  for  J  " 

"  I  suspect  he's  run  my  gal  up  this  way.  She  has 
always  been  tractable  to  me.  Yisterday  she  cut  me  like  a 
'ristocrat.  I  don't  mind  her  rogueries  ;  she  had  'em  be 
fore  I  married  her.  I  never  put  a  snaffle  curb  upon  her, 
but  let  her  nater  run  free,  satisfied  that  she'd  come  back 
to  the  stall  ef  I  left  the  door  open.  But  this  trick  looks 
like  a  rubber  cut,  clean  and  fine,  on  her'n  truly,  J.  C." 

"  Take  it  as  a  blessing,  Jacob.  Fine,  graceless  crea 
tures,  of  Maria's  breed  and  course,  mature  upon  adven 
ture  to  a  point  where  the  social  ambition  arises  equal  to 
their  quickened  wits.  Then  they  cast  aside  their  lower 
associates,  and  mistake  their  new  opportunities  for  the 
spasms  of  virtue.  This  woman  hates  you  already  ;  the 
power  she  has  by  those  letters  alone  would  destroy  you 
if  she  exerted  her  present  influence." 

"  I  see.  The  p'int  has  entered  my  heart,"  Clingman 
said.  "  The  wife  of  my  bosom  looks  down  on  her'n  bus- 
tificated,  J.  Clingman,  late  of  the  walley  of  Virgeenia. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  105 

Howsomever,  I've  looted  all  the  whiskey  in  Buffalo  wal- 
ley  and  up  the  Chillisquakee.  As  long  as  business  is 
good,  no  woman  can  break  Clingman's  heart." 

"  Think  over  my  proposition  to  come  to  New  York  and 
run  one  of  my  city  districts.  You  have  got  the  shoul 
ders  for  a  ward  boss  and  a  street  contractor,  too,  friend 
Jacob." 

Mrs.  Reynolds,  as  the  protean  lady  was  also  called, 
closed  her  eyes  and  anticipated  a  presence. 

A  step  came  near,  a  breath  and  a  shadow  fell  upon 
her,  and  she  was  kissed. 

"  I  might  know  that  to  be  Colonel  Aaron  Burr,"  Maria 
remarked,  in  her  long,  musical,  nasal  tones,  deliberately, 
without  color  or  resentment.  "  He  is  a  gallant  gentle 
man,  who  is  not  ashamed  to  prevail  by  force  over  the 
captive  and  weak.  Do  you  respect  yourself,  sir  ?" 

"  Not  till  I  have  made  you  full  amends,  my  lovely 
creature." 

"  Then  go  drown  yourself  in  the  Susquehanna,  for  I 
shall  never  forgive  you,  Mr.  Aaron  Burr." 

"  Why,  you  were  abominably  treated  by  Hamilton." 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  I  heard  his  fiercest  reproofs  with 
the  sorrow  of  a  daughter  hearing  her  father's  affection 
ate  anger.  I  thought  of  the  kind  words  the  preacher 
used  to  say,  when  I  was  in  church  at  Hyde  Park,  New 
York  :  'Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  Him.'  O 
Hamilton  !  I  hear  his  considerate  tenderness  yet,  saying 
to  me  :  'I  know  the  wilful  spirit  in  the  blood  of  human 
nature  ;  all  cannot  be  evil  there,  and  years  remain  for 
you  to  recover  your  better  nature  in.'  Mr.  Burr,  why 
cannot  you  woo  a  woman  like  that  ? " 

"He  threatened  to  expose  you  at  the  very  last." 

"  Oh  !  he  will  not.  He  would  rather  be  accused  and 
misunderstood.  Do  you  know  why  I  am  infatuated  with 
him  ?  " 

"Not  I,  indeed." 

"  Because  he  paid  me  the  great  compliment  of  break 
ing  his  constancy  for  me.  I  have  been  roving  enough 
to  understand  a  modest  man,  and  this  was  surely  one.  I 
felt  in  his  tones  and  words,  when  he  was  compelled  to 
confront  me  and  Mr.  Clingman,  the  sorrowful  upbraiding 
of  the  old  lover." 

"  Oh  !  that  was  natural  to  Hamilton's  station,  and  the 


I06  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

delicacy  of  his  errand.  He  was  not  going  to  bully 
you." 

"  Like  Senator  Aaron  Burr  ?  Of  course  he  was  not, 
because  his  nature  was  not  made  so.  I  have  seen  him, 
as  a  gentleman  of  virtue,  impregnable  ;  I  have  also  seen 
him,  as  the  human  being,  misled,  the  wooer,  the  pur 
suer,  the  lover.  But  I  like  him  best  in  his  last  character 
—the  magistrate,  the  master  !  O  that  I  had  a  master 
like  that,  to  whom  I  could  look  up,  whose  rod  would 
comfort  me,  who  would  stir  in  my  passive,  pleasurable 
veins  the  work  of  conscience,  duty,  and  obedience  !  " 

"  To  what  end,  visionary  Maria  ?  " 

"  To  the  end  of  honor,  of  social  influence,  a  true  and 
adequate  career.  What  is  Hamilton's  wife  like  ?  I  have 
seen  her — a  little  thing,  a  morsel,  and  I  am  sure  not  up 
to  the  romantic,  ardent  character  of  Hamilton.  He  is 
French,  they  say  ;  Scotch,  too.  Oh  !  what  imagination, 
what  ardor,  what  devotion  !  And  shall  I  never  see  him 
again  ?  Give  me  back  my  letters,  you  dishonest,  un 
scrupulous  Mr.  Burr  !  I  heard  you  refuse  them  but  now 
to  Mr.  Clingman." 

"  I  destroyed  them,  my  beautiful  friend,  because  I  re 
garded  them  as  dangerous  to  you.  Their  unjust  use 
might  put  you  in  prison.  Besides,  they  gave  you  the 
means  of  seeing  Hamilton  again,  and  I  want  to  divide 
you." 

"  As  a  lawyer  ?  " 

"  Bless  you,  no.     As  a  lover  !  " 

"  Folly,  sir  !  You  can  never  love  any  one  but  your 
self." 

"  I  came  here  particularly  to  see  you,  on  an  errand  of 
the  heart." 

"  And  now  I  perceive  that  you  will  presently  give  a 
reason  for  that  impulse,  whereas  all  real  impulses,  like 
my  own,  seek  for  no  reasons.  By  kindness  and  sloth  I 
did  my  erring  ;  the  way  was  easy.  At  last  I  found  my 
self  embarrassed  by  dangers  and  took  a  counsellor.  He 
robbed  me  of  my  documents,  and  now  wants  me  to  be 
fond  and  grateful  to  him. " 

a  Maria,  you  shall  not  say  that  I  am  a  mercenary 
lover." 

"You  command  me  already,  then?  Sir,  I  will  say 
that  all  those  letters  from  ladies  which  you  showed  me 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  107 

at  your  rooms — your  daughter  in  the  next  chamber — 
letters  assorted,  labelled,  and  tied,  looked  to  me  like 
genteel  villany.  Men  are  afraid  of  an  adventuress, 
and,  if  she  gets  the  reputation  of  dealing  in  their 
secrets,  they  fly  from  her.  But  I  never  heard  of  a 
man  making  a  commercial  matter  of  his  love  letters 
before."  *• 

"  Except  one  of  your  husbands,  Mr.  J.  Clingman." 

"  Yes,  poor  Jake  is  a  kind  of  wolf,  greedy  by  his  race 
and  circumstances.  But  he  is  always  tender  with  me. 
You  might  suppose  he  would  murder  me  for  the  way  I 
am  treating  him  now,  because  he  is  a  devil  in  courage.  I 
lay  here,  however,  and  heard  his  talk  to  you  without  a 
single  anxiety.  Do  you  know  why  ?  " 

"  You  control  him  by  intelligence." 

"  No,  sir.  He  loves  me  !  Nothing  that  I  can  do  will 
exasperate  that  savage  against  me,  and,  therefore,  in  my 
worst  situations  I  go  back  to  him  and  leave  him  as  I 
please." 

"  The  effect  is  none  the  less  destructive  to  your  so 
cial  sense.  It  trains  you  downward  like  Romulus,  who 
was  suckled  by  a  wolf,  and  of  course  he  slew  his  brother. 
This  wolf  set  you  on  Hamilton.  He  has  you  in  his 
power,  as  Hamilton  has  said,  because  you  are  a  biga 
mist.  You  hardly  seem  to  apprehend  the  gravity  of  your 
offence,  Maria." 

"  I  do,  sometimes,  but  I  do  not  like  to  carry  any 
worry.  I  supposed  that  bigamy  was  made  so  much  of  to 
protect  people  of  condition,  not  to  stir  up  the  poor  out 
laws  in  the  hedges  and  heaths  of  the  wayside  of  the 
world." 

Her  voice  had  been  gay,  in  spite  of  the  serious  things 
she  said,  skirmishing  with  Mr.  Burr ;  but  now  it  became 
bitter,  and  when  he  dropped  the  next  sentence  he  saw  her 
already  in  tears. 

"  Madame  Reynolds,  you  owe  the  penitentiary  five 
years  for  your  offence.  You  live  with  a  childish  heart 
over  a  pit  that  is  dreadful.  Let  me  arouse  you  !  " 

She  turned  upon  the  bench  beneath  the  vine  where 
she  had  been  reposing,  and  rested  on  her  face,  and  there 
sobbed  for  a  long  time. 

Colonel  Burr  sat  with  his  buff  riding  gaiters  crossed 
upon  each  other,  his  hair  waxed  into  its  queue  very 


I08  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

sleekly,  and  his  clean  profile  and  strong  chin  calm  as  an 
inquisitor's  looking  at  some  lovely  Jewess  suffering  on 
the  rack. 

Nature  had  kept  up  her  growth  in  this  woman  till  she 
was  like  a  lovely  tree,  luxuriant  everywhere,  and  pleasing 
the  eye  and  the  taste,  yet  wild  as  the  forest,  or  the  gipsy 
beneath  its  boughs. 

At  last  the  brunette  spoke,  in  broken  accents,  the  grop- 
ings  of  her  intellectual  sense : 

"  Wretched,  wretched  sex  of  woman  !  We  are  made 
for  the  society  of  men.  They  coax  and  flatter  us  country 
girls  till  we  arrive  at  full  wisdom,  to  discover  that  we  are 
only  society's  criminals.  Little  did  I  know  when  I  married 
Reynolds  that  I  was  a  felon.  Had  I  stolen  anything  ? 
Was  my  heart  cruel  ?  I  made  another  step  to  extricate 
myself  from  a  false  one,  and  now,  if  I  dare  to  think,  I 
shall  be  reckless.  Yes,  I  may  hate  men  !  " 

"  I  sent  you  to  Northumberland  at  your  suggestion,  for 
the  purpose  of  coming  by  this  way  myself,  Maria,  to  put 
this  subject  before  you;  to  show  you  the  real  danger  you 
are  in,  and  to  propose  a  remedy.  You  must  get  rid  of 
Reynolds.  He  is  the  second  husband,  and  having  mar 
ried  him  constitutes  you  a  criminal." 

"  He  is  enlisted  for  the  excise  war.  He  is  gone- 
gone,  he  says,  forever." 

"  Ha!  ha!  Don't  trust  to  that.  Bad  pennies  and  i-n- 
dictments  are  always  turning  up.  If  Hamilton  would 
prosecute  him  for  swindling  he  might  run  away,  but  that 
is  not  likely.  Let  me  see  !  If  I  could  convict  Clingman 
as  a  felon,  your  marriage  to  him  would  be  dissolved,  ipso 
jure. ' ' 

"  Convict  poor  Jake  ?  " 

"  He  forged  pension  papers,  or  uttered  them.  His 
decoying  of  you  from  your  legal  guardians  was  crime 
enough.  You  were  then  under  age.  The  act  was  done 
in  New  York,  and  in  the  city  where  I  am  the  head  of  the 
bar." 

"  I  will  never  consent  to  that,  Colonel  Burr." 

"  Well,  take  your  choice  between  Reynolds  and  Cling 
man.  Reynolds  may  die  in  this  excise  campaign.  The 
other  proposition  I  make  to  you  is  a  serious  one." 

She  wiped  her  eyes  of  tears  and  resumed  her  careless, 
indolent,  languishing  ways. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  K>9 

"  I  want  you,  Maria,  to  take  the  place  of  the  late  Mrs. 
Burr." 

Maria  burst  into  laughter. 

"  Ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  That  is  the  way  every  moral  lecture 
ends  when  a  Member  of  Congress  delivers  it  :  Be  careful  ! 
be  discreet !  don't  get  exposed  !  Remember  your  youth 
and  beauty  !  And  love  only  me  !  " 

She  arose  and  pinned  the  ravelled  ruffle  in  his  shirt  and 
called  him  the  u  old  granny  of  forty."  He  saw  that  she 
was  at  least  inquisitive. 

"  Listen,"  said  he.  "  You  are  an  astonishingly  fine 
woman.  Time  only  adorns  you  and  the  buffets  of  worldly 
vicissitude  have  made  you  keen.  The  associations  you 
keep  are  contemptible  in  the  light  of  your  family  stock 
and  striking  appearance.  I  would  not  have  appreciated 
you  as  a  runaway,  heedless  girl,  but  now,  in  the  dawning 
of  your  social  passions,  and  the  refined  management  of 
your  charms,  I  see  all  the  possibilities  in  you  of  a  com 
panion,  an  adviser,  and  a  cherished  instrument." 

"  I  am  too  lazy  for  all  that,  Colonel  Burr." 

"  Did  I  not  see,  coy  Maria,  that  wonderful  perform 
ance  at  Clingman's  rooms  when  Hamilton  called  ?  It 
was  indescribable.  If  acting,  or  virtue,  either  was  su 
perb  !  You  melted  Hamilton  down.  You  were  a  mighty 
artist." 

"  Who  could  not  be  before  the  only  man  she  had  won 
and  feared  ?  Was  I  adroit  ?  I  did  not  know  it." 

"  I  sincerely  appreciate  you,  madame.  You  are  my 
constituent ;  let  me  lead  you  home  !  The  necessities  of 
my  public  life  require  me  to  be  more  circumspect  in  New 
York.  My  widower  condition  lays  me  open  to  tempta 
tion  and  distracts  my  studies.  My  daughter  is  to  find  a 
distant  home  and  to  become  my  ally  there.  I  shall  be 
President  of  the  United  States  :  New  York  will  make  me 
so.  You  are  the  friend  of  Hamilton,  and  I  shall  need  the 
Federalists,  perhaps,  to  unite  with  me  and  defeat  their 
great  enemy  Jefferson.  All  reasons  unite  to  make  me 
trust  in  you." 

"  Reasons,  sir  ?  Reasons  always  ?  Oh,  that  your 
brain  could  feel  the  spark  of  another  happiness  than  your 
own,  if  it  were  only  the  happiness  of  folly — like  Colonel 
Hamilton." 

"  I  swear  I  love  you,"  Burr  replied.      "  Join  me  on  my 


IIO  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

return  from  the  Genesee  and  I  will  extricate  you  from 
your  dangers,  shelter  you,  consider  you  in  everything. 
Finally,  I  may  marry  you." 

The  proposition  was  at  least  a  social  enlargement  for 
Clingman's  wife  and  Reynolds'  name-bearer.  Morally 
there  was  no  rise  for  her  but  repentance  and  to  stand  at 
some  man's  crucifixion. 

But  the  dread  of  hunger  and  the  ultimate  need  of 
shelter,  disease's  wasting  apparition,  the  black  chasm  of 
absolute  friendlessness,  all  which  crowd  upon  the  trifling, 
the  gay,  and  the  indolent  at  such  times  when  they  dare 
to  anticipate,  stepped  across  the  threshold  of  her  mind. 
Here  was  a  Senator,  esteemed  to  be  rich  and  sure  to  be 
a  successful  lawyer, — and  the  law  she  had  commenced  to 
dread. 

"  I  am  asked  to  become  your  mistress,  I  suppose  ?  "  she 
slowly,  reflectively  said. 

"  My  friend,"  corrected  Aaron  Burr. 

"  You  were  my  friend,  indeed,  when  you  mentioned 
my  necessities  to  Doctor  Priestley's  babe  ;  he  gave  me 
relief,  and  in  the  giving  gave  me  his  heart.  It  is  that 
which  strengthens  me  to  refuse  your  suit.  No,  I  will 
not  become  your  friend." 

"  What  have  you  to  depend  upon  ? " 

"  Nothing.  But  if  I  am  to  make  the  next  step  into 
mercenary  life,  I  shall  depend  upon  some  one  who  is 
never  harsh  with  me,  never  subjects  me  by  fear;  consults 
my  nature,  knowing  what  it  is,  and  makes  my  evil  path 
indolently  descending." 

"  This  is  ever  the  course  of  the  scarlet  woman,  Maria; 
she  prefers  to  ruin  some  innocent  man  when  she  can  be 
friend  a  spoiled  and  lonesome  one.  I  see  the  man 'your 
eyes  are  seeking  out.  If  Colonel  Hamilton  would  make 
the  offer  I  have  made  you,  you  would  not  refuse." 

The  answer  of  the  grand  brunette  was  a  genuine,  un- 
excused,  unstinted  blush. 

"  Hamilton  I  have  thought  to  fear  me,"  continued 
Aaron  Burr.  "  He  behaves  as  if  he  wished  to  go  past  me 
and  not  offend  me.  But  if  Hamilton  saw  the  blush  I 
see,  Miss  Maria,  in  the  association  which  has  raised  it,  he 
ought  to  fear  you  most." 

"  Do  you  think  I  would  injure  him  ?  " 

"  You  have  no  control  over  what  you  may  do.     Ham- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  Ill 

ilton's  enemies  already  hold  him  in  their  power,  and 
through  you  alone.  Where  every  man  failed,  you  tempted 
him  into  a  crime,  and  that  crime  is  known  to  at  least  three 
persons  upon  this  earth,  and  to  how  many  others  the 
drunken  threats  of  James  Reynolds,  the  blabbings  of 
Clingman,  never  can  recount.  It  is  suspected  in  this 
Priestley  family,  far  in  the  interior  of  the  land.  One  pro 
tection  alone  is  thrown  around  Hamilton:  his  secret  is 
confined  to  his  fellow-soldiers  of  the  army." 

"  Sir,  you  exaggerate  a  simple  truantry  of  a  great  fa 
vorite  of  the  ladies." 

"But  I  do  not  exaggerate  your  peril.  Reynolds, 
Clingman,  Hamilton,  Aaron  Burr — either  of  these  men 
could  throw  you  into  Northumberland  jail  to-day  upon 
lodging  an  affidavit.  Conceive  the  effect  of  this  knowl 
edge  upon  my  infatuation  !  Can  you  conceive  it,  lovely 
Maria  ?  " 

Aaron  Burr  set  his  rich,  devouring,  serpent  eyes  upon 
the  woman  who  had  lost  all  her  defences,  losing  virtue. 

She  dreaded  him.  He  held  her  already  as  the  slave 
he  had  set  his  price  upon  in  the  sales-rooms.  He  looked 
her  over  leisurely,  confidently,  boldly,  till  she  shrank  and 
seemed  to  have  been  stung  by  him,  and  to  be  congealing. 

"  Think  over  what  I  have  said,  Maria,"  Burr  observed 
at  last.  "  I  shall  be  back  this  way  in  a  few  weeks.  You 
will  then  need  a  lawyer  to  answer  this  charge  of  big 
amy,  I  fear.  My  fee  will  be  to  train  you,  to  give  you 
the  protection  that  the  splendor  of  your  beauty  deserves. 
I  am  entitled  to  you;  no  bid  you  expect  can  be  as  high 
as  mine." 

He  was  called  away  by  young  Joe  Priestley,  and  Maria 
lay  perfectly  quiet  for  some  time,  with  darkening  coun 
tenance,  gloom,  and,  at  last,  the  flashings  of  an  interior 
spirit  like  lightnings. 

She  rose  and  leaned  upon  the  saplings  of  the  trellis, 
and  spoke  aloud: 

"  Revolting  alternative  :  to  love  that  man  or  herd 
with  murderers  and  robbers  in  a  prison!  For  what  of 
fence  of  mine  ?  Only  for  yielding  to  the  suit  of  James 
Reynolds.  I  married  him,  and  he  was  unworthy  of  my 
respect.  What  does  he  not  deserve  for  bringing  me  to 
this  degradation  ?  If  I  have  been  fugitive  in  my  ca 
prices,  I  have  always  been  free  to  choose.  Aaron  Burr 


112  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

alone  has  imposed  upon  my  weakness,  and  now  would 
make  me  his  slave  for  the  remainder  of  my  days — at 
least,  for  the  residue  of  my  charms." 

She  heard  a  man  whistling,  and  recognized  the  whis 
tle  of  Clingman,  setting  his  whiskey  team  forward  for 
the  East. 

A  thought  occurred  to  Maria  which  made  her  dark 
complexion  grow  pale. 

She  looked  within  the  dwelling  and  drew  again  into 
the  gloom  of  the  little  porch. 

In  a  moment  she  was  shuddering.  • 

" '  Ever  the  course  of  the  scarlet  woman  !  '  "  she  said. 
"*  I  have,  indeed,  no  control  over  what  I  do.'  I  am  a 
slave  already  !  " 

She  stepped  into  the  sunlight  and  was  revealed  to  her 
husband.  By  a  slight  motion  of  her  head  she  called  him 
up. 

"  Mari  ?  Your'n  abjeckly,  J.  C.  Nothin'  else — no, 
never,  Mari." 

"  I  cannot  speak  to  you  here,  poor  Jake.  It  is  not  dis 
like  of  you  but  policy.  You  are  going  to  the  war  ?  " 

"  Fur  a  stake  or  a  snake-bite,  Mari.  To  be  pizened  or 
wictorious.  We  march  to  Carlisle  at  once.  Do  you  want 
for  anything  ? " 

"  Have  you  seen  Reynolds  ?  Colonel  Hamilton  said 
he  would  enlist." 

"  Yes,  Mari,  that  friend  of  our'n  is  in  the  same  bri 
gade  with  your'n  obejently,  J.  Clingman,  lef tenant,  and 
— under  the  rose — I  am  backer  of  the  sutler  of  the  bri 
gade." 

"  Jake,  I  hope  Reynolds  is  killed  out  there  in  the 
mountains  by  somebody.  As  long  as  he  lives  I  shall  be 
in  dread.  Colonel  Burr  has  threatened  me  with  the  pen 
alty  of  bigamy  unless  I  go  to  him;  and  God  knows  I 
loathe  him.  What  shall  I  do  ? " 

"  You  have  said  enough,"  the  mighty  ruffian  answered. 
"  If  Reynolds  ever  quits  the  mountains  alive  you  can 
gaze  on  the  suspended  circumference  of  J.  Clingman  and 
say  he  missed  his  man." 

The  woman's  sight  grew  indistinct  as  Clingman  passed 
away.  She  heard  a  word  ring  through  the  tenement,  and 
could  not  tell  if  it  had  been  born  in  her  brain  or  shouted 
in  her  ears. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  113 

That  word  was  "Murderess!" 
Joe  Priestley  found  her  on  the  grass,  insensible. 
u  A  mercurial  race  this  !  "  reflected  Joe.     "  It's  all  of 
nursing  brother  Hal  so  close,  I  fancy.  " 


CHAPTER    XII. 

HAMILTON    MARCHES. 

THE  troops  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  were  to 
be  concentrated  at  Bedford,  and  those  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia  at  Cumberland,  places  thirty  miles  apart.  The 
latter  was  approached  by  the  Potomac  River,  but  the  for 
mer  only  by  advancing  down  the  Great  Valley  of  Cum 
berland  or  Carlisle,  and  then  crossing  successive  waves 
of  high  mountains  in  almost  perfect  wilderness. 

For  Carlisle  set  out  Washington  and  Hamilton  in  the 
pleasant  autumn  of  the  year,  using  the  new  turnpike 
toward  Lancaster  and  crossing  the  Susquehanna  at  Har- 
risburg,  which  was  some  fifty  miles  south  of  Doctor 
Priestley's. 

They  travelled  in  carriages,  attended  by  a  little  escort, 
in  which  were  Tobias  Lear  and  Rob  and  Larry  Lewis. 

Those  lads  were  in  the  bliss  of  war  and  love  ;  their 
girls  had  seen  them  off.  Nelly  Custis,  in  tears  and  pride, 
had  looked  at  Larry's  military  trappings  and  obeyed  her 
grandmother's  command  : 

"  Kiss  your  cousin  !  Tell  him  that  I  shall  not  think  of 
his  Uncle  George  oftener  than  you  of  Lawrence." 

At  the  word  the  hearty  housewife  threw  herself  into 
Washington's  arms,  and  looking  at  the  example  of  grand 
mother  and  granddaughter  in  love's  embraces,  Theodo- 
sia  Burr  stood  in  tears  and  kissed  her  hand  to  Robby 
Lewis. 

"  I  cannot  kiss  you  more,  Robby,'''  she  spoke.  "  I  have 
promised  my  father.  Oh,  that  I  could  go  with  you,  too, 
past  the  mountains,  and  down  the  great  river,  and  for 
ever  out  to  the  sea  !  But  we  must  never  meet  again." 

The  time  was  to  come  when  Theodosia  was  also  to 
make  this  western  journey  over  the  Alleghanies,  down 
the  long  River  Ohio,  and,  under  the  guardianship  of  her 
8 


114  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

father  and  her  husband,  heaven's  appointed  protectors, 
to  aim  at  a  Southern  crown. 

Hamilton  needed  all  his  philosophy  to  set  out  on  that 
journey,  because  his  mind  bore  a  load  he  had  no  room 
for,  with  General  Washington  to  be  entertained. 

Washington  was  not  easy  to  entertain  in  a  time  of 
responsibility,  especially  one  like  the  present,  when  the 
urgency  of  the  public  order  had  drawn  him  from  his 
capital  during  the  session  of  Congress. 

The  morning  he  set  out  that  young  Parisian  jackanapes, 
Franklin  Bache,  had  published  a  diatribe,  inspired  by 
"  the  faction,"  arguing  that  he  could  not  constitutionally 
command  an  army  while  Congress  was  in  session.  This 
was  plain  notice  that  the  President  would  be  attacked 
during  his  whole  absence. 

Hamilton  had  quitted  Washington's  staff  at  one  time 
in  the  patriot  war  for  impatient  words  spoken  to  him  by 
Washington,  which  roused  his  self-respect.  This  was 
just  after  he  had  married  General  Schuyler's  daughter, 
whose  father  was  in  many  features  Washington's  North 
ern  counterpart. 

In  the  interval  of  fourteen  years  he  had  become 
Washington's  youngest  and  leading  counsellor,  the  most 
frequent  cause  of  Washington's  policy,  greatness,  and 
grief. 

The  only  Northern  minister  to  throw  himself  against 
the  arrogant  and  unsafe  politicians  who  were  making 
a  French  Europe  out  of  America,  Hamilton's  genius 
and  wisdom  prevailed  with  Washington's  reason  alone. 
This,  and  the  steady  rectitude  of  Northern  society,  had 
slowly  won  Washington  away  from  the  Virginia  which 
had  such  fascination  for  its  sons  ;  he  beheld  with  pain 
the  power  of  sinister  and  violent  advisers  in  his  native 
State,  hardly  one  of  them  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution  ; 
yet  the  carelessness  of  habits  in  Virginia,  the  want  of 
private  and  public  finance,  had  prepared  the  people  for 
Job's  comforters,  offering  them  delusions  of  theory  and 
insubordinate  citizenship. 

Hamilton  sympathized  with  the  large,  worn,  mastiff 
temperament  at  his  side,  as  they  rolled  over  the  new, 
rough  stones  of  the  Pennsylvania  turnpike — an  aged 
servant  of  the  public  for  forty  years,  neglecting  his 
private  interests,  the  pursuits  of  home  and  books  and 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  115 

sports,  to  be  pestered  and  insulted  by  the  infants  of 
affairs,  who  regarded  Rousseau  and  Robespierre  and 
Thomas  Paine  to  be  altogether  Washington's  superiors. 

"General,"  said  Hamilton,  "this  is  probably  the  last 
occupation  we  shall  have  together,  and  I  fear  I  repeat 
the  burden  of  your  thoughts  when  1  say  that  it  may  have 
been  your  misfortune  that  we  ever  met." 

Washington  remained  silent,  listening  as  for  more. 
The  hoofs  of  the  few  dragoons  upon  the  road  stones 
made  the  hard  echoes  of  this  affectionate  confidence. 

"  But  for  me,"  said  Hamilton  again,  "you  might  be  on 
the  popular  side  in  Virginia,  unplagued  by  any  who  have 
the  art  to  irritate  you,  lost  at  least  in  your  estates,  the 
past  of  fame  secure  to  you  ;  your  sleep,  your  hunt, 
every  domestic  good  sound  and"  grateful.  Why  did  I 
not  agree  with  all  those  who  opposed  me  and  let  them 
manage  these  restless,  volcanic  times?  I  have  not  been 
sensitive  to  what  they  have  said  against  me,  but  every 
stroke  at  you  over  my  head  has  cut  me  cruelly.  Surely 
I  am  guilty  in  some  way  of  having  brought  you  this  un 
just  pain  !  " 

There  was  a  pause.  The  older  man  was  passing  the 
subject  up  into  his  judgment-box.  Perhaps  he  remem 
bered  that  his  strict  clerk,  Tobias  Lear,  whom  he  had 
created  a  colonel  for  this  expedition,  was  also  in  the 
carriage. 

Some  minutes  passed.  The  President  was  in  deep 
counsel. 

Finally  he  cast  his  arm  almost  accidentally  around  his 
minister's  shoulders,  and  let  it  drop  on  the  other  side  to 
Hamilton's  hand. 

"  Colonel,"  he  observed  dryly,  "  '  surely  you  must  be 
guilty  in  some  way,'  as  you  say  ;  for  I  never  heard  you 
make  a  desponding  remark  like  that  before.  What  are 
you  guilty  of  ?  " 

He  nudged  Hamilton's  side  with  his  immense  hand  ; 
that  hand  had  the  blue  veins  of  age  now  standing  clear 
upon  its  almost  feeble,  shrunken  tendons.  Hamilton 
had  seen  it  throw  the  bar  in  camp  farther  than  any  giant 
could  pitch  the  iron.  Something  in  the  contrast  made 
the  minister's  throat  twitch.  He  was  silent. 

"  You  must  have  parted  from  Eliza  in  a  tiff,"  Wash 
ington  remarked,  seeing  the  emotion. 


Il6  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  I  did,  sir,"  faltered  Hamilton. 

"  That  is  strange,"  the  general  exclaimed,  cordially. 
"  Her  son  had  just  got  well  ;  she  had  nearly  lost  him,  too. 
Her  father  took  her  home  to  a  much  cooler  place  than 
Philadelphia.  She  is  lucky  to  be  so  near  those  wonderful 
springs  of  Saratoga.  I  am  told  there  is  a  new  one  they 
call  the  Congress  spring.  That  will  be  a  bubbler,  Colonel 
Lear  !  That  will  emit  continual  wisdom  !  " 

His  mood  was  so  natural  that  Hamilton  and  Lear,  both 
laughing — since  the  relapse  of  real  dignity  to  jocundity 
is  always  funny — wondered  if  he  could  have  disguised  a 
comfort  for  Hamilton's  spirit  so  artfully. 

Hamilton  wished  he  could  tell  Washington  what  was 
on  his  mind,  but  there  seemed  to  be  no  way.  Yet  he  was 
in  great  need  of  a  friend,  for  what  had  happened  was 
both  silly  and  unprecedented. 

His  wife  had  either  guessed  something  or  lost  her 
usual  wifely  equipoise  ;  for  after  he  explained  away  his 
conference  with  Mrs.  Lizzie  Priestley  and  was  kissed  and 
apologized  to  most  beautifully,  Mrs.  Hamilton  had  packed 
her  portmanteau  to  go  to  Saratoga  Falls  with  her  father, 
had  sent  her  children  ahead  with  General  Schuyler,  and 
waited  as  if  for  the  last  moment  with  her  husband. 

Then,  by  a  revulsion  of  feeling  Hamilton  could  not 
understand,  she  had  departed  haggard,  fiery,  phenome 
nal. 

Could  it  be  that  the  packet  Mrs.  Reynolds  had  obtained 
from  the  bankers  had  already  gone  to  his  wife  ? 

Might  she  not  be  now  effecting  a  separation  ? 

All  the  night  when  they  rested  on  the  road  Hamilton 
turned  this  over. 

The  thought  of  his  children  was  agonizing. 

How  could  he  ever  commence  his  private  life  and 
practise  law  and  find  clients  without  his  wife  ? 

To  quit  the  Cabinet  had  seemed  freedom  and  career 
only  a  few  weeks  before,  but  then  he  was  to  dwell  with 
love,  in  mutual  trust,  his  youth  returned  and  the  whole 
world  reduced  to  his  little  brood. 

Now  the  widower's  fate,  without  the  widower's  peace 
and  religious  indwelling,  might  be  his  portion  ;  outcast 
from  a  high-spirited  wife  who  never  had  injured  his  self- 
respect  in  one  particle,  either  by  a  word  unsaid  or  a  word 
oversaid,  a  look  that  was  not  in  partnership  with  his 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  Iiy 

spirit,  or  a  thought  that  was  not  as  loyal  to  her  husband 
as  to  her  babes. 

The  infinite  descent  from  greatness  and  security  to 
conteraptibility  and  everlasting  self-accusation  afflicted 
Hamilton  with  deep,  unutterable  humility. 

He  thought  of  his  early  poverty,  his  pressing  himself 
upon  public  attention  when  an  assisted  student,  his  lucky 
picking  up  of  Washington,  and  the  struggle  upon  the 
staff  till  that  straight-eyed,  well-descended  little  soul  of 
courage,  old  Schuyler's  daughter,  came  to  the  camp  and 
gave  him  his  first  social  commission  and  all  herself. 

Nothing  had  he  then  but  youth — no  land,  no  family, 
not  even  birth  or  poor  kindred  in  these  States  ;  till,  like  a 
little  Catharine  of  Russia,  Eliza  had  responded  to  his 
admiration  with  her  full  glance  and  raised  him  from  the 
ranks  to  be  her  consort.  She  had  asked  him  for  nothing 
but  love,  and  this  he  had  been  false  in. 

As  real  misery,  moral  timidity,  and  a  tortured  imagina 
tion,  conceiving  all  the  worst,  oppressed  Hamilton,  he 
heard  the  language  of  General  Washington,  who  might 
have  been  talking  half  an  hour  for  all  Hamilton  could 
tell,  saying  this: 

''The  pride  of  a  little  woman  in  her  husband  is  the 
most  dependable  thing  to  lean  upon  ;  it  is  my  support 
near  the  end  of  days  as  at  the  beginning.  I  was  not  the 
first  in  my  wife's  affections  nor  the  father  of  her  children, 
but  she  has  merged  into  my  career  till  that  is  before 
everything ;  and  this  I  consider  to  be  the  chief  com 
pensation  of  the  public  life,  Colonel  Hamilton — that  it 
teaches  the  women  greatness  of  soul.  If  the  man  is  true 
to  his  career  the  wife  will  never  ruin  him  ;  but  if  he  be 
comes  voluptuous,  indifferent  to  his  high  respect  and  her 
pride  of  support,  the  death  of  her  pride  is  the  knell  of 
him.  He  can  find  no  such  constituent." 

The  words  awoke  in  Hamilton  a  feeling  without  self- 
reference.  He  knew  that  his  wife  was  proud  to  the  very 
core.  The  old  general's  remark  made  him  proud  of 
her. 

"  Though  she  slay  me  yet  I  will  praise  her  !  "  he  ex 
claimed  aloud. 

"  Praise  her  always  !  Find  where  her  pride  lies,  and 
she  will  never  slay  you  !  "  replied  Washington,  empha 
tically. 


Il8  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

He  gave  Hamilton  another  dig  with  the  big  knuckle 
in  the  side. 

"  Lackadaisy  !  "  exclaimed  Tobias  Lear.  "  The  Gen 
eral  is  getting  a  great  deal  of  comfort  out  of  that  kiss 
Mrs.  Washington  gave  him  when  she  despatched  him  off 
to  circumvent  Jefferson  and  Mifflin  and  all  her  enemies." 

Hamilton  believed — he  could  not  tell  how — that  Wash 
ington  knew  his  defection. 

Whether  the  old  chieftain  had  heard  it  or  had  guessed 
it  was  immaterial  to  the  great  comfort  Hamilton  felt. 

"  Sir,"  he  said  to  Washington,  thankfully,  "  those  who 
do  not  appreciate  you  take  care  not  to  come  near  you  in 
real  times,  like  defeat  and  shifting  councils.  I  take  joy 
to  myself  that  I  have  felt  your  strength  when  I  had  none. 
It  is  like  an  elephant's,  I  think,  which  can  twist  off  a  tree 
or  pick  up  a  needle." 

"  No  reflections  on  my  oft-described  nose,  I  hope,  Col 
onel  Hamilton,"  said  the  general  with  some  severity, 
that  large  feature  slightly  swelling  at  the  nostril. 

The  laugh  he  seemed  to  invite  came  to  both  his  com 
panions  at  once,  and  the  dragoons  and  the  staff  lads  saw 
that  there  was  laughing  in  the  carriage,  the  President 
apparently  very  grave,  and  they  smiled,  too,  and  quietly 
winked,  saying : 

"  The  old  man's  blood  must  be  up." 

"  Dear  me  !  "  remarked  Hamilton,  when  he  had  cor 
dially  laughed,  "  I  wondered  this  morning  what  I  was  to 
do  to  enliven  you,  Mr.  President,  and  you  have  made  me 
cheerful  before  I  could  try." 

"  Welcome,  Colonel  Hamilton,  all  that  can  try  and  re 
fine  you  !  Welcome,  sir,  the  detection  of  your  errors  ! 
Welcome  the  failure  of  your  counsels  !  If  you  can  slip 
past  your  mistakes  they  will  never  correct  you.  The 
game  animal  always  takes  his  flogging  ;  the  untrainable 
mongrel  fawns  and  fails  to  retrieve  again.  I  was  defeated 
at  Long  Island  and  at  Brandywine  ;  both  disasters  were 
in  the  nature  of  providences  ;  but  where  are  they  who 
prevailed  so  early  and  met  their  disasters  late  ?  Where 
are  Gates  and  Arnold  and  Charles  Lee  ?  Fine  pride  led 
to  false  pride,  and  what  is  false  must  destroy." 

The  new  road  was  already  filling  up  with  wagoners' 
hotels.  They  saw  the  national  flag  everywhere,  and  at  the 
toll-gates  groups  were  gathered,  holding  up  their  babes  to 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  I  19 

look  at  Washington — blest  sight  !  that  for  eighty  years  to 
follow  gave  more  credit  than  owning  an  estate.  The  exer 
cise  of  law  had  already  rekindled  the  fires  of  nationality. 

Hamilton  recovered  every  mischievous  sensibility,  and 
Tobias  Lear  proved  to  be  no  dull  companion,  his  dry 
Yankee  criticisms  on  wayside  things  having  an  old  child's 
face  to  embellish  them.  Thus  they  passed  along  the 
Brandywine  and  over  into  the  abundant  Conestoga  vale. 
The  short  route  to  Harrisburg  led  through  the  German 
settlements  and  by  the  old  Dunker  mills  and  convents. 

The  backbones  of  the  great  gray  and  blue  landscapes 
raised  themselves  in  the  distance,  and  the  deep  streams 
seemed  to  flow  at  the  bottom  of  the  world.  They  climbed 
another  hill  and  saw  the  Susquehanna  swim  in  its  islets 
like  a  silver  baldric. 

As  they  drew  near  Harris's  Ferry,  Washington  said, 
with  his  face  turned  full  upon  Hamilton,  and  something 
of  embarrassment  in  it : 

"  This  may  be  the  last  opportunity  for  me  to  recall, 
Colonel  Hamilton,  the  only  instance  of  our  personal  fall 
ing  out,  as  we  are  to  separate  in  a  few  weeks,  you  say." 

"  I  beg  your  Excellency  not  to  speak. 

"  Pardon  me  !  "  said  Washington,  gravely,  u  I  have 
long  felt  that  it  was  due  you.  You  came  upon  my  staff 
and  became  indispensable  to  me  ;  you  were  both  ardent 
and  discreet,  ambitious  and  faithful.  I  felt  that  I  was 
robbing  you  of  a  great  career  in  the  field,  but  the  exigen 
cies  of  the  country  required  that  I  keep  you  at  my  camp, 
Colonel  Hamilton.  '  Where  shall  I  duplicate  that  man  ? ' 
said  I." 

Colonel  Lear  was  probably  asleep,  for  his  eyes  were 
closed  as  the  President  glanced  warily  at  him. 

"  You  married  General  Schuyler's  daughter,"  continued 
Washington,  in  a  subdued  voice.  "It  released  you,  I 
feared,  from  the  dependence — perhaps  I  should  say  the 
career — of  a  military  secretary,  long  worked  unmercifully. 
I  became "*  jealous  of  your  future  movements,  sir.  One 
day  you  seemed  to  lack  promptness  and  on  your  return 
my  temper  broke  forth " 

"  O  General,  say  no  more  !  "  cried  Hamilton.  u  This 
scene  is  cruel.  I  left  you  !  " 

"  I  had  precipitated  the  result  I  feared.  You  met  my 
accusation  with  a  self-respect  natural  to  your  character. 


120  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

You  went  into  the  lines,  and  I  felt  your  mettle  at  York- 
town  in  the  main  assault.  Let  me  say  that  your  behavior 
on  the  first  occasion  I  have  named,  has  often  restrained 
me  when  the  ardor  of  your  character  brought  momentary 
embarrassments  to  me  in  my  present  political  office.  I 
have  always  forborne  to  do  you  another  injustice.  And 
so  there  has  been  spared  to  his  country  its  only  man  of 
universal  accomplishments,  and  to  me  the  affection  of  my 
equal  and  my  son." 

The  old  general  was  moved  to  the  point  of  solemnity 
and  of  deep  embarrassment.  He  seldom  gave  way  to 
emotions  of  any  kind,  but  now  he  was  fluttered  in  all  his 
pulses  and  his  blue  eyes  were  sparkling  with  standing 
tears. 

Opening  his  arms  toward  his  friend,  Washington  leaned 
forward,  and  a  single  sob  burst  from  Hamilton  on  the 
President's  breast. 

"  Colonel  Lear,"  exclaimed  Washington,  after  a  long 
pause  and  effort,  "  this  is  Harrisburg  ;  will  you  please 
awake  and  look  to  the  baggage  and  to  my  nephews  ? " 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ARKEOLOGY. 

THE  whiskey  insurrection  stopped  all  work  at  North 
umberland,  and  Doctor  Priestley,  making  the  best  of  the 
delay  upon  his  house,  preached  a  sermon  to  the  soldiery 
and  straightway  became  swallowed  up  in  a  new  contro 
versial  work. 

This  seemed  to  be,  from  his  description  of  it,  "  An  ex 
plicit  statement  of  the  errors  of  Methodism,  with  refer 
ences  to  the  prophecies  of  Job  and  Lazarus,  and  notices 
upon  the  composition  of  gunpowder  as  erroneously  set 
forth  by  the  late  M.  Lavoisier.  Together  witn  a  defence 
of  Phlogiston  in  a  reply  to  M.  Adet,  the  French  Minister 
to  America.  By  J.  Priestley,  with  notes  by  Th.  Cooper." 

Mrs.  Priestley  remained  with  the  doctor,  to  see  that  his 
mind  was  disturbed  by  no  details  while  setting  on  this 
large  nest  of  scorpion's  eggs,  and  Mr.  Cooper  devised  a 
little  excursion  for  his  chum  Joe  and  Joe's  wife  and 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  121 

Madame  Cooper  of  Manchester ;  namely,  to  descend  the 
Susquehanna  on  an  ark  to  Harrisburg. 

The  excuse  for  this  excursion  was  to  enable  Mr. 
Cooper  to  examine  the  dyes  of  American  plants,  but  the 
probable  end  was  to  draw  near  the  excitements  of  the 
campaign,  for  the  soldiery  were  crossing  the  river  at 
Harris's  Ferry. 

Cooper  was  not  sure  that  he  had  not  been  cut  out  for  a 
great  commander.  He  was  already  pooh-poohing  the 
requirement  for  officers  in  the  militia  to  be  at  least  five 
feet  four  high,  and  he  thought  of  hurling  a  pamphlet  at 
the  head  of  President  Washington,  comparing  him  to  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  other 
historical  reactionaries. 

Joe  Priestley  insisted  that  Mrs.  Reynolds  be  invited ; 
his  wife  bit  her  lip  but  held  her  tongue,  reflecting  that 
the  intruder  might  loosen  her  influence  on  young  Hal  by 
absence  and  perhaps  depart  for  good. 

"Wilt  thou  have  me  go,  Harry?"  the  brunette  asked. 

"  Indeed  wull  I,  Lady  Maria.  I  know  'twill  be  thy 
pleasure  ;  but  I  must  clear  my  farm  and  get  my  cabin 
ready  ;  for  soon  thou  art  to  be  free  and  all  my  own  !  " 

"  If  ill  happens  to  thee,  Harry,  or  to  me,  my  own  dear, 
shall  I  have  thy  blessing  to  the  last  ? " 

"  Yes,  yes  !  If  yon  mountains  should  speak  to  me 
against  thee,  I'll  not  believe  them." 

*•  Harry,  the  gazettes  say  Colonel  Hamilton  is  coming 
this  way.  I  want  to  see  him.  Colonel  Burr  is  neglect 
ing  my  interests." 

"  Thou  dost  not  love  Hamilton,  nor  fear  him  either, 
dost  thou  ?  " 

"  No,  no  !     He  is  my  friend,  and  yours,  too,  Hal." 

"Adieu,  then,  lady.  I'll  work  and  think  of  thee  till 
Heaven  returns  thee  here." 

The  ark  they  descended  the  river  on  was  a  light,  clean 
affair,  built  for  a  woman,  some  kind  of  a  New  England 
mystic  who  had  settled  in  Western  New  York,  and  called 
herself  the  Universal  Friend,  and  founded  a  colony. 
The  arkmen  were  her  converts  among  the  Pennsylvania 
Dutch,  returning  to  remove  the  effects  of  other  disci 
ples  to  the  paradise  of  New  York.  They  gave  the  Priest 
ley  party  the  Universal  Friend's  cabin  and  awning,  and 
attended  to  their  own  duties  at  steering  and  poling 


122  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

the  ark,  and  were  four  days  dropping  down  the  current 
among  the  shoals. 

Almost  alone  among  great  rivers,  the  Susquehanna 
stands  virgin  to  the  steamboat  down  to  the  present  day  ; 
but  from  both  its  shores  the  railroad  engines  continue  to 
solicit  it,  since  its  beauty  and  youth  never  fade. 

In  the  years  of  Priestley  it  had  neither  railroads  nor 
canals,  but  was  the  feasible  road  for  peltrymen  and  emi 
grants  from  the  tidewater  of  the  lower  Middle  States  to 
the  new  land  empires  toward  the  great  lakes  of  Erie  and 
Ontario  ;  and  the  rising  city  of  Baltimore  was  the  easi 
est  port  to  make  for  it,  being  west  of  the  unbridged  Sus 
quehanna,  so  that  Philadelphia  was  hastening  with  its 
turnpikes  and  schemes  of  inland  navigation  to  recover  its 
own  inland  provinces. 

Lovely  valleys,  almost  savage  yet,  led  up  from  the  river 
where  the  many  creeks  entered  it,  and  straight,  arrowy 
mountain  ranges  enfolded  successive  zones  of  verdure, 
lying  on  the  lines  of  latitude,  while  the  immense  stream, 
in  lochs  or  pools,  swam  under  the  insteps  of  the  hills 
and  lapped  the  beaches  of  lovely  islands  in  the  gorgeous 
foliage  of  such  an  autumn  as  seemed  to  the  English 
visitors  the  paint  and  plumage  of  the  departed  Indian 
host. 

Already  the  wild  fowl  from  the  north  were  coming 
down  the  Susquehanna,  the  instinctive  path  of  their  im 
memorial  ancestors,' and  wondering  if  its  broad  reaches 
were  not  their  destined  feeding  grounds,  since  they  only 
knew  it  by  the  recognition  of  transmission,  which  man  is 
the  dumbest  animal  to  feel. 

The  great  swans,  squawking  and  wheeling  as  their 
leader  took  them  on,  seemed  barbaric  descendants  of 
rambling  angels,  degenerate  from  the  seraphim  host,  but 
lovely  yet.  The  geese,  by  night  lost  on  the  river,  were 
calling  to  each  other  to  find  the  way ;  the  wild  ducks 
flew  straight,  like  human  hearts,  pulsating  through  the 
air,  silent  as  hearts  disembodied  and  shot  from  the  bow 
string  of  fate  to  whither  they  did  not  know,  yet  beating, 
flickering,  as  they  sped  low  to  the  bosom  of  the  pool 
to  see  themselves  reflected,  as  broken  hearts  fly  over 
Lethe  and  see  but  memories  of  themselves. 

By  day  the  world  was  splashed  and  blood-dyed  in 
colors,  and  the  gorgeous  butterflies  were  hardly  as  rich 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  123 

as  the  straying  leaves  ;  by  night  the  high-purposed  and 
bold-striding  mountains  stopped  and  stood  in  abutments 
to  let  the  moon  spin  a  bridge  between  them  and  dance 
upon  it  with  her  fairy  host. 

This  wilderness  pathway  of  nature,  the  full-breasted 
river,  gave  forth  low  noises  in  the  night,  of  leaping  fish 
or  grounded  arks,  or  great  paddles  of  rafts  swung  to  a 
"  Ye-ho  !  " 

Rapids,  cascades,  suck-holes,  the  eternal  murmur  of 
descending  fluid,  the  cry  of  owls  and  hawks  of  dark 
ness,  dogs  baying  from  the  hewn  cabins  on  the  shore, 
and  louder  than  all,  the  spacious  silence  of  the  night, 
the  dreaming  splendor  of  the  perfect  day,  made  the 
unpropelled  travel  of  the  English  party  seem  the  only 
proper  way  to  go  down  the  Susquehanna. 

Mr.  Cooper  had  plenty  of  time  to  go  ashore  or  land  on 
the  islands  and  select  dye-stuffs — the  sumach,  the  black 
walnut's  hull,  vermilion-backed  insects,  wild  indigo  and 
litmus,  rare  oxides  of  iron  for  his  dyeing  "  mordants," 
and  madder  and  nutgalls. 

He  brought  with  him  from  Priestley's  library  the  for 
eign  authors  on  the  subject,  and  two  new  American  books 
on  dyeing,  by  Ellis  and  Bemiss,  and  his  taste  for  this 
subject  was  the  most  kindly  and  sincere  of  all  his  o'er- 
positive  energies. 

He  was  chased  about  everywhere  by  his  little  wife, 
calling  him  "Tommy !  Tommy  !  Where  be  thee,  Tommy, 
ducky?"  And  now  and  then  they  could  be  seen  kissing 
each  other  in  the  copses,  indifferent  to  the  sluggish  water - 
snakes  upon  the  stones,  which  gazed  at  this  caricature  on 
Paradise. 

Cooper  was  one  of  those  men  whose  heart  and  intellect 
are  ill  assorted ;  when  left  to  domestic  scenes  gentle,  pli 
able,  and  natural,  but  in  facing  the  world  an  excitable, 
obstinate,  self-destroying  man  ;  always  yearning  for  the 
dangerous  side,  and  finding  the  unconsonant  part. 

"Tom,"  said  Joe  Priestley,  who  was  reading  medicine, 
as  the  Coopers  got  aboard  one  day  laden  with  flowers  and 
findings,  "  why  don't  you  go  down  to  Philadelphia  and 
be  a  dyer  ?  It  must  be  such  a  pleasure  to  you  to  give 
anything  the  full  color  you  want  it  to  have  by  just 
sousing  it,  and  compelling  it  to  be  blue  or  red,  maroon 
or  black." 


124  MRS-    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"And  I  dare  say,"  exclaimed  little  Mrs.  Cooper,  with 
a  broad  accent,  "  that  Tommy  would  make  no  herror  in 
the  color,  Josie.  Oh  !  he  has  got  the  taste  of  a  French 
citizen  !  All  the  countries  want  my  Tommy  !  What 
'asn't  he  been  ?  " 

Mr.  Cooper,  with  his  low  spine  and  mighty  head,  seemed 
sitting  down  jwhen  he  stood  up,  and  ready  to  bark. 

u  I  love  the  dyeing  art,"  he  said.  "  In  my  shop  where 
Lavoisier  broke  me,  I  superintended  the  dye  and  color 
department  ;  often  did  I  think  what  waste  all  that  blood 
was  under  the  guillotine.  Such  rare  coloring  matter ! 
And  to  think  that  felons  and  aristocrats  should  not  con 
tribute  to  the  economical  arts  !  " 

"  Fie  !  my  Tommy,"  cried  Mrs.  Cooper,  "  thee  will  have 
to  be  a  judge  out  'ere  and  give  these  republicans  some 
learning." 

"I  tell  ye,  Joe,"  exclaimed  Cooper,  "that  ultimately 
we  shall  need  no  government  at  all  except  the  economic 
or  practical  sort.  At  the  birth  the  lad  shall  be  considered 
preparation  and  laborer  ;  at  the  death  he  must  contribute 
his  chemistry  to  the  society  ;  if  he  be  executed,  all  of  him 
shall  belong  to  the  law.  No  waste  !  No  waste  !  How 
much  we  are  taxed  for  sentiment — flags,  religions,  her 
aldry.  Stuff  and  nonsense,  say  I  !  " 

"  Hear  !  'Ear  !  'Ear  'im  !  My  Tommy  !  "  from  Mrs. 
Cooper.  "  O  Josie  !  O  Lady  Marier  !  Did  thee  ever 
hear  my  Tommy  address  his  club  at  Manchester  ?  His 
Majesty  George  the  Third  could  'ave  done  it  no  better 
with  'is  hushers  at  'and  in  their  black  rods  and  carryin' 
of  the  mace.  It  was  almost  a  hawful  thing  !  *  'Eavens  !  ' 
I  reflected,  '  is  that  man  my  'usband  !  ' ' 

The  ark  had  one  day  passed  out  of  an  expansive  pool 
into  a  rapid  between  sundered  mountains;  and  rocks,  both 
barren  and  wooded,  sprinkled  the  cascade,  which  had  the 
wilfulness  of  fate  as  it  slided  onward  and  foamed  white, 
like  cotton  into  the  teeth  of  Mr.  Whitney's  new  gin. 

The  navigation  required  a  knowledge  of  the  river  and 
apprenticeship  at  the  steering  gear,  for  the  flat-bottomed 
ark  was  an  American  adaptation,  and  the  rudder  was  a 
kind  of  sheering-oar,  broad-paddled  and  heavy,  to  be 
moved  by  sleight  of  the  wrist  under  precision  of  the 
eye. 

"  Here,   my   man,"    exclaimed    Mr.    Cooper,    "  you're 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  125 

doing  that  all  wrong  !  Hydraulics  demands  that  you  do 
it  so " 

He  threw  his  little  dwarf  body  upon  the  shank  of 
the  paddle  just  as  the  blade  was  dealing  with  an  eddy 
as  big  as  a  house  ;  the  ark  swerved,  the  paddle  blade 
was  sucked  down,  and  the  shaft  rose  in  the  air  like  a 
catapult.  Mr.  Cooper  experienced  at  the  same  time  a 
colic  and  a  bath,  the  wind  being  knocked  out  of  his 
body  just  as  he  needed  it  all  for  a  swim. 

He  sank  like  a  bullfrog,  and  the  ladies  uttered  a 
scream,  whilst  the  ark,  sufficiently  deflected  from  its 
course,  rose  upon  a  rock  at  the  bow,  and  swinging 
around  in  the  rapid,  was  forced  higher  up  the  rock  by 
the  very  hydraulics  Mr.  Cooper  had  been  a  professor  of. 

"  Tarn  dot  feller  !  "  said  the  German  skipper,  relapsing 
from  grace.  "  He  knows  so  much  he  ground  my  ark;  now 
let  him  drown." 

"  Save  Tommy  !  Save  him,  heverybody  !  "  cried  Mrs. 
Cooper.  "  'E's  the  government.  'E's  the  crown.  'E's 
everythink !  " 

A  deck-hand  seized  a  boat-hook,  a  contrivance  better 
than  heroics  for  such  occasions,  made  like  a  halberd, 
with  two  iron  hooking-points  and  a  spear,  on  the  end 
of  a  pole,  which  could  impale  a  log  or  turn  it,  from  the 
upper  or  under  hold,  and  draw  it  in. 

This  apparatus  was  poked  through  the  bagging  of 
Mr.  Cooper's  Manchester  breeches  so  indifferently  that 
as  he  rose  from  the  waves  he  squealed  with  pain,  the 
iron  prong  having  bevelled  the  flesh  as  well. 

He  was  hauled  in  like  one  of  the  ray  family  of  fish, 
chiefly  head,  and  Mrs.  Cooper  rolled  him  on  the  deck, 
as  he  had  instructed  her  in  other  times  to  do  with 
drowning  people,  so  energetically  that  he  revived  shout 
ing: 

"  Woman,  leave  off !  I'm  not  a  garden-roller  noi  an 
accumulated  Monday  washing." 

"  Ducky  !  "  cried  Mrs.  Cooper,  "A  must  roll  'im  well. 
Tommy  said  it,  and  Tommy  knows  !  " 

Finally  Mr.  Cooper  started  up,  holding  his  wound  in 
one  hand  and  raving  with  the  other,  and  retreating  be 
fore  his  wife,  who  marvelled  that  he  behaved  so  contrary 
to  his  own  recipe. 

Joe  Priestley  and  the  two  younger  ladies  and  the  boat's 


126  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

company  beheld  the  Cooper  couple  with  mirth  too  great 
for  concealment.  They  laughed,  and  laughed  again,  and 
finally  made  an  end  of  trying  to  be  considerate,  and 
wore  nature  out  with  paroxysms  of  the  delight  that  is 
at  another's  expense,  yet  the  whole  genius  of  comedy. 

Laughing  "  till  they  could  laugh  no  more,"  his  friends 
finally  regarded  Mr.  Cooper's  serious  and  accusing  coun 
tenance  with  some  remorse  and  solicitude. 

"  Never  mind,"  observed  Mr.  Cooper,  leaking  like  a 
pump,  and  seeming  to  need  a  drop  of  brandy  more 
than  wifely  consolation — "  never  mind  paying  any  re 
spect  to  me.  Don't  think  I  expect  it  of  you.  It  is  the 
expectation  of  persons  like  myself,  who  take  upon  them 
selves  the  public  character,  to  become  martyrs  and  to 
incur  ridicule.  In  spite  of  the  apparent  discomfiture  I 
have  experienced,  I  shall  insist  that  mine  was  the  true 
way  to  steer  arks,  and  that  all  other  ways  of  steering 
arks  are  mere  Yankeeisms,  mere  stuff  and  phlogiston. 
Phlogiston,  I  say,  Mr.  Joseph  Priestley,  Jr.  !  " 

"  Anything,  Tom,"  retorted  Joe,  Jr.,  heartily,  "  except 
too  much  hydrogen  in  your  lungs." 

It  took  all  the  rest  of  the  day  to  roll  the  ark  off  into 
the  river  again,  and  the  Coopers,  feeling  wounded  in  their 
dignity,  went  ashore  and  pursued  the  dyeing  art  excur 
sively. 

Mrs.  Reynolds  had  gone  to  sleep — her  method  every 
afternoon.  She  rose  late,  slept  in  the  afternoon  fervor 
of  the  sun,  and  was  in  her  planetary  power  after  supper, 
glowing  more  wondrously  as  midnight  approached. 

Lizzie  Priestley  saw  that  her  husband  was  up  very  late 
with  Mrs.  Reynolds,  but  gave  the  subject  no  concern, 
being  absorbed  with  a  question  that  was  greater  and 
deeper  than  any  she  had  been  brought  to  deal  with  since 
her  marriage. 

She  had  committed  an  act  of  grave  and  gratuitous  con 
sequence,  and  had  not  taken  her  husband  into  her  confi 
dence. 

This  was  now  giving  her  some  remorse,  yet  remorse 
that  was  more  like  religion  than  any  happiness  she  had 
ever  known. 

The  remorse  was  in  doing  anything  affecting  any  other 
man  that  she  did  not  immediately  reveal  to  her  husband. 

The  fear  before  the  remorse  was  that  she  could  not 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  127 

divide  the  confidence  of  this  act  in  counsel  with  her  hus 
band. 

The  religion  of  the  act  was  to  be,  she  hoped,  in  the 
sequel.  And  yet  she  had  never  come  so  near  a  great 
impropriety  in  her  life. 

"  Joe,"  she  said  to  her  matter-of-fact  but  well  devoted 
spouse  the  afternoon  the  ark  had  been  foundered,  "  I 
wish  I  had  told  mother  something  upon  my  mind  before 
I  left  Northumberland." 

"  Why  didn't  you,  dear  ?  " 

"  Because  as  I  could  not  tell  you,  I  felt  it  might  be  put 
ting  you  in  the  background  to  tell  mother.  It  is  my 
only  secret." 

"  If  you  can  keep  it  you  are  a  great  woman.  I  shall  be 
afraid  of  you." 

"  O  Joe  !  afraid  of  me,  and  not  afraid  of  Mrs.  Rey 
nolds  ?  " 

"  Is  that  your  secret,  Lizzie  ?  There's  nothing  of  her 
to  fear,  I'm  sure.  She  lias  merely  been  stranded  upon 
the  glittering  shoals  of  official  life,  like  many  an  ambitious 
woman  before  her  in  England." 

"  Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  ever  touch  those  shoals 
then  !  "  exclaimed  Lizzie,  devoutly. 

"  Indeed,  I  thought  you  brightened  up  to  official 
society  in  Philadelphia  like  another  Madame  de  Stae'l, 
especially  to  Secretary  Hamilton." 

The  wife  gave  a  little  scream. 

"  Why,  that  can't  be  your  secret,  Lizzie  1  "  exclaimed 
the  husband. 

"  O  Joe  !  you  give  me  such  pain.  I  wonder  if  I  have 
not  been  doing  wrong." 

"  No,  I  don't  believe  you  have.  It  would  hardly  be 
natural  for  you  to  do  anything  wrong  and  not  tell  me  of 
it.  I  might  do  so,  but  I  think  it  would  make  you  too 
unhappy." 

"  Husband,  I  have  done  something  that  may  turn  out 
wrong,  and  I  do  not  see  my  way  clear  to  tell  you.  If  it 
turns  out  right,  I  may  never  be  able  to  tell  you." 

"  That's  exceedingly  funny.  It  sounds  like  a  riddle  of 
Mrs.  Barbauld.  But  I  never  could  guess  one  of  those 
things,  because  the  people  who  make  them  start  upon  the 
answer  and  make  the  riddle  afterward." 

"Joe,  were  you  ever  jealous?  " 


128  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Not  since  I  have  been  married.     Were  you  ?  " 

"  Never.  Before  the  time  for  jealousy  love's  confidence 
should  be  destroyed.  Love  and  married  love  are  too 
sacred  for  jealousy  to  be  a  ward  in  the  family.  Only 
false  love,  selfish  love  can  be  jealous.  And  yet  I  wonder 
if  your  love  for  me  could  ever  be  shaken  under  a  great 
provocation." 

"  I  don't  believe  you  could  give  the  provocation." 

'"  That  is  no  answer,  sir." 

"Then,  no." 

The  wife  turned  suddenly  upon  her  husband  and 
kissed  him,  and  remained  trembling  in  his  arms. 

"  Tell  me  that  I  am  a  modest  woman,  a  faithful  wife," 
she  demanded,  with  pride,  her  eyes  still  streaming. 

"  You  ?  "  said  Joe  ;  "  of  course  you  are." 

"  If  you  ever  tell  me  I  am  not,  if  you  ever  doubt  me, 
sir,"  the  wife  spoke  under  the  same  strong,  mysterious 
excitement,  "  I  will  leave  you  forever  !  " 

"  Queer  country  this,  to  disturb  old  habits  and  heads 
so  !  "  reflected  Joseph  when  she  had  gone.  "  It  may  be 
in  the  climate.  Perhaps  it's  Equality." 

Nevertheless,  a  slight  change  had  already  come  about, 
through  something  concealed  or  withheld  in  the  marriage 
understanding.  The  husband  had  been  deprived  of  the 
duty  and  right  of  comforting  his  wife.  The  wife  had 
chosen  to  think  that  there  was  a  duty  above  her  great 
and  passionate  task  of  household  confidence,  though  she 
had  never  exercised  it  before. 

The  ark  was  put  on  rollers  and  rolled  from  the  rock  by 
the  joint  application  of  the  current  towing  from  it  and 
of  levers  behind.  To  keep  the  Coopers  in  cordial  re 
lations  that  night,  Lizzie  Priestley  went  below  with  them, 
and  early  to  bed,  while  her  husband  held  the  vigil  above 
with  Maria  Livingston  far  toward  morning,  as  the  ark 
passed  down  through  the  Kittatinny  Mountain. 

"You  were  not  lucky  in  love,  Reynolds?"  asked  Joe, 
curtly,  of  that  beauty. 

"  Not  in  marriage,  Joe.     Hardly  lucky  in  love." 

"Dear  me  !     Was  there  a  difference  ?  " 

She  thought,  with  all  her  heightened  intellect  after  the 
day's  whole  rest,  and  felt  that  the  moment  might  have 
come  to  punish  Lizzie  Priestley. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  slowly,  "marriage  is  a  failure." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  129 

"  That's  queer.  What  can  be  a  success  then,  my 
lass  ?  " 

"  Marriage  is  a  formal  arrangement  ;  love  is  a  suc 
cess." 

"Illustrate  that." 

"  I  married  Mr.  Reynolds  ;  the  question  of  duties  and 
rights  and  mutual  conduct  came  up  at  once.  I  loved 
Hamilton  ;  it  was  joy  and  glory  till  another  cut  me  out. 
But  the  ardor  of  this  love  never  can  be  told.  If  I  could 
live  another  life  I  would  give  it  all  away  for  that  brief, 
wild  experience.  If  deception,  it  was  bliss." 

"  What  kind  of  person,  Mistress  Maria,  could  have  cut 
out  graces  like  your  own  ?  " 

"  Dear  Joe,  I  cannot  tell  you  that.  And  yet  I  have  an 
intuition  that  here,  at  Harrisburg,  will  be  my  rival  and 
that  we  shall  see  her." 

"  Then,  of  course,  you  will  point  her  out,  for  I  am  a 
dull  sort  of  being.  And  you  say  marriage  is  a  failure  ?  " 

He  lay  down  and  felt  troubled.  The  large  islets  near 
the  Juniata's  outlet  went  past  to  flying  star  throngs 
overhead,  that  seemed  to  Joe  like  populous  America,  and 
himself  to  be  a  heavy  flat-boat  drifting  past  unrecog 
nized  constellations.  What  star  up  there  might  be  his 
wife  ? 

The  woman  talked  on,  and  was  piqued  at  last  to  find 
her  listener  asleep  ;  not  even  disturbed  love  could  un 
settle  the  equipoise  of  that  cheery  nature. 

She  felt  offended  now  at  both  man  and  wife,  and 
wondered  if  she  could  not  think  of  some  wanton  trick 
to  punish  them  equally. 

Her  experience  was  full  of  hide-and-seek  incidents— 
the  ruses  of  borrowing,  the  freaks  of  coquetry,  the  im 
postures  which  had  just  escaped  blackmail.  To  plague  a 
husband's  heart  and  by  almost  breaking  it  recompel  af 
fection  had  been  her  wifely  prelude  to  other  adventures 
beyond  the  family  circle,  and  one  of  these  came  now  to 
mind. 

"  Go  down  into  the  cabin,"  she  said  toward  morning 
to  a  lad  among  the  boat's  people,  "  and  ask  this  gentle 
man's  wife  to  come  on  deck  and  see  the  campments 
around  Harrisburg." 

Lizzie  Priestley  was  awakened  by  the  voice  of  Mrs. 
Cooper. 


130  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Lizzie,  husband  have  sent  for  thee  to  go  hup  and 
see  'Arrisburg.  It's  comin'  day,  my  lady." 

Grateful  to  be  remembered  by  her  husband,  the  wife 
donned  wrapper  and  shawl  and  came  out  under  the  infinite 
starlight,  repeated  in  the  river's  broad  lagoons,  with  the 
mountain  lines  and  shadows  far  behind  and  rolling  land 
scapes  enfolding  the  current.  Some  fires  were  blazing 
along  the  tall  banks  not  far  to  the  south,  where  the  troops 
were  cantoned,  waiting  for  the  ferry. 

"  It's  not  like  Joe  to  call  me  so  early,"  thought  the 
wife.  "  Where  can  he  be  ?  " 

She  picked  her  way  along  the  broad,  cargo-littered 
floor,  and  in  an  alcove  made  by  coops  and  bales  saw 
something  move  that  lay  upon  the  deck. 

"  Joe,  did  you  send  for  me  ?  " 

A  blanket-shawl  was  drawn  aside,  and  Mrs.  Reynolds, 
springing  up,  gave  a  scream  and  uttered  the  words: 

"  O  madame,  mercy  !  " 

"  You  here  with  Joe  ?  "  asked  Lizzie  Priestley.  "  Joe, 
did  you  send  for  me  just  now  ? " 

"  Not  I,"  answered  Joe,  looking  up  from  his  part  of 
the  same  shawl  gapingly.  "  It's  too  cold  for  you  up  here. 
What's  the  matter  ?" 

"  Nothing  at  all.  Reynolds  tried  to  play  a  trick  on 
you;  that's  clear,  madame!" 

"Well,  I'm  too  dull  to  see  through  it." 

"  It's  not  worth  your  while,  Joe.  Come,  wash  up  and 
be  ready  to  land  at  Harrisburg.  If  Hamilton  is  there 
we  may  miss  him,  for  I  believe  soldiers  move  at  dawn." 

With  ease  above  contempt  the  wife  drew  her  husband 
up  and  away. 

"  Not  at  all  jealous,"  Maria  Reynolds  reflected;  "  how 
ever,  she  must  remember  it,  if  more  comes  to  pass." 

The  coolness  of  an  adventuress  quite  understood  is 
equal  to  virtue's  own  coolness,  and  explanation  was  nei 
ther  asked  nor  extended  between  the  two  women. 

Harrisburg  was  a  little  place,  with  an  unfinished  court 
house  and  a  market  square,  in  sight  of  the  Paxton  Hills, 
where  a  gentle  congregation  once  set  forth  to  kill  Chris 
tian  Indians  at  Lancaster  and  capture  Philadelphia  for 
its  Quakerness. 

Washington  had  found  there  the  French  flag  flying 
over  the  court-house  and  only  five  Federalists  in  the 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  131 

town,  which  had  lately  possessed  a  United  States  Senator, 
who  with  his  neighbors  had  expected  to  have  the  seat  of 
government  at  Harrisburg,  and  accused  Hamilton  and 
Robert  Morris  of  sending  it  to  the  Potomac.  They  did 
not  equally  accuse  a  typhoid  fever  which  had  raged  in 
Harrisburg  for  two  years  because  some  curmudgeon 
would  not  dispense  with  his  mill-dam  in  the  middle  of 
the  place.  A  disappointed  woman  is  cheerfulness  com 
pared  to  a  disappointed  town  which  expects  to  become 
a  capital.  Nevertheless,  the  burgesses  had  been  pre 
vailed  on  to  present  an  address  to  the  President,  and 
were  to  get  it  in  this  day;  so  Harrisburg  was  full. 

At  a  small  hotel  on  a  corner  of  the  market  square 
Hamilton  and  Washington  were  quartered,  and  there 
the  Priestley  company  repaired.  As  they  entered  the 
door  Mrs.  Reynolds  gave  a  real  scream,  and  turning, 
'Lizzie  Priestley  saw  its  cause  to  be  the  sentinel  at  the 
door. 

"  Reynolds  ?    My  God  !  "  exclaimed  the  errant  wife. 

"  Very  well,  then,"  spoke  Mrs.  Joe;  'Met  Reynolds 
and  wife  be  happy,  and  we,  Joe,  will  go  up  to  see  Colonel 
Hamilton." 

"  One  moment,  my  dear  friend,"  pleaded  Mrs.  Rey 
nolds,  catching  Joe  Priestley's  arm  ;  "  I  am  afraid  of  this 
man.  He  may  attempt  my  life,  being  armed.  Won't 
you  protect  me  ?  Oh  !  I  have  no  other  friend  here  but 
Hamilton,  and  he  is  too  great  to  descend  to  me." 

"  As  soon  as  my  wife  finds  her  friend  Hamilton  I  will 
return  to  thee,  Reynolds,"  answered  Joe,  soberly. 

The  sentinel  had  already  obtained  a  change  of  guard 
and  faced  his  wife,  or  her  who  bore  his  name. 

"  Stopped  here,"  thought  Mrs.  Reynolds,  "  while  my 
rival  can  see  Hamilton  ?  I  am  the  jealous  one  now,  but 
it  puts  down  my  fear.  James  Reynolds,  what  dare  you 
want  with  me  ?  " 

"  To  pardon  you,  Maria.     And  to  say  farewell." 


132  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

RIVAL    WOMEN. 

IN  laying  out  his  town  of  "  Louisburg  in  the  County  of 
Dauphin  " — the  Dauphin  now  an  insane,  tortured  child 
and  King  Louis  a  headless  corpse — John  Harris  had  re 
served  the  broad  high  river-bank  or  "  bench  "  before  his 
stone  house  for  a  sort  of  boulevard,  which  was  in  1794 
bushy  yet,  with  a  path,  and  used  by  the  Harrisburgers  to 
feel  the  river  air. 

To  this  path  Reynolds  led  the  way  and  Maria  followed 
sullenly,  her  outlaw  nature  now  aroused  by  jealousy  and 
anger,  though  she  noted  that  soldiers  were  loitering  by 
the  walk,  and  what  remaining  fear  she  had  of  Reynolds 
was  benumbed  by  hardihood. 

He  took  her  arm  and  continued  on  beyond  the  farthest 
loiterers,  to  a  place  where  the  path  entered  a  half-circle  of 
trees  and  in  front  opened  upon  the  wondrous  view  of  the 
Cumberland  Valley  across  the  Susquehanna  ;  the  strident 
North  Mountain  above,  just  cleft  by  the  river  like  a  tree 
by  an  axe  ;  the  peaceful  South  Mountain  below,  bending 
as  if  to  drink  from  the  river  like  garlanded  team  horses  ; 
and  in  between  a  land  that  gambolled  with  abundance, 
and  from  its  hillocks  flowed  the  milk  of  corn  and  wheat 
in  creeks  like  young  rivers  running  savage  free.  This 
was  the  great  valley  of  the  Scotch-Irish,  leading  off  to  the 
Potomac,  the  Monongahela,  and  the  Tennessee. 

"  That  runs  like  me,"  Maria  said,  looking  at  the  shallow, 
flowing  current,  "  past  green  things  like  those  large  isl 
ands  and  green  things  like  you,  Jim.  Why  don't  you 
get  out  of  my  treacherous  bed  and  go  down  that  valley 
over  the  ferry  and  find  some  real  world  like  a  man  ?  " 

<4 1  am  going  far  enough,"  Reynolds  said  ;  "as  far  as 
the  Ohio,  if  I  live  to  get  there." 

"  Don't  come  back  !  Never  be  a  government  clerk 
again  !  Turn  Indian  first !  " 

"  The  very  Indians,  it  seems  to  me,  want  to  be  govern 
ment  clerks,  Maria.  That  is  the  whole  cause  of  this 
war — to  get  the  government  out  and  fill  the  places.  O 
heavens  !  what  will  be  the  agony  of  them  who  succeed!" 

"  You're  right,  Jim,  if  they  bring  their  fine  wives  to  the 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  133 

seat  of  government;  some  will  end  boarding-house  keepers 
and  some  will  end  bigamists,  like  me.  The  rest  will  hang 
on  endlessly.  Dear  me  !  one  government  is  just  like  an 
other.  The  courtier  of  the  king  has  to  surrender  his 
wife  ;  the  government  clerk  has  hard  work  to  keep  her. 
If  a  woman  can  ever  be  in  more  temptation  than  at  a 
seat  of  government  where  the  politicians  control  the  em 
ployment,  the  very  angels  will  excuse  her.  Haven't  I 
been  through  it  ?  " 

She  gave  a  long  sigh  and  patted  her  foot,  for  the 
world  she  derided  was  calling  her. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Reynolds,  "  that  the  more  that 
becomes  understood  the  more  of  these  careless  women 
want  to  come  to  the  capitals." 

"  Ha,  ho  !  And  always  will.  Men  exaggerate  women 
above  themselves,  but  women  do  not  love  work.  Jim, 
in  leaving  me  you  leave  a  lazy,  languid,  selfish  creature. 
We  tried  matrimony,  and  I  could  not  be  faithful  to  you 
if  I  had  to  stay  in-doors  and  to  work.  I  was  spoiled 
already  ;  you  were  dissipated.  You  wanted  my  beauty, 
as  you  thought  it  was,  and  you  would  not  give  up  your 
gambling  and  cups.  So  we  were  both  selfish.  I  really 
thought  our  marriage  would  be  happy,  and  tried  it  in 
good  faith.  You  see  that  it  was  a  failure.  Now,  let  me 
go  !  " 

"  Stop,  my  wife  !  That  name  is  precious,  Maria  ;  it 
is  painful,  too.  O  God  !  " 

He  threw  back  his  tall  figure  and  leaned  against  a 
tree. 

The  u  assembly  "  was  beaten  in  the  streets  of  Harris- 
burg. 

"  Up,  up,  up  and  away  ! 
Is  the  call  of  Clingman's  men." 

"  Jim,  I  pity  you.  Indeed,  I  do.  Go  to  the  war  !  Get 
habits,  my  poor  husband  !  A  fine  woman  to  possess  is  a 
poor  exchange  for  good  habits  and  self-respect  in  a  man. 
I  shall  go  to  glory  or  the  gutter.  I  feel  an  energy  in  me 
I  have  never  had  before.  Something  worse  or  great  is 
going  to  happen." 

"  My  company  is  now  forming  to  march,"  the  soldier 
breathed.  •'  I  have  only  a  moment  and  my  feelings  will 
not  let  me  speak.  Maria,  I  loved  you " 


134  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

He  lost  self-control  again.  She  was  crying,  too,  and 
she  threw  her  arms  around  him,  nearly  of  his  own  height 
as  she  was,  and  kissed  him,  saying  : 

"  James,  go  and  serve  your  country.  Alter  your  habits. 
If  you  can  do  it,  become  a  religious  man.  That  saves 
some  people." 

"  God  bless  you,  my  wife  \f  Men  have  made  it  hard 
for  you.  It  is  not  your  sin  that  you  were  made  so 
attractive  to  us.  I  was  cowardly  and  base  to  you.  Maria, 
leave  that  bad  fellow,  Jake  Clingman  !  He  it  was  who 
kept  me  in  my  cups  and  taught  me  ways  of  villany,  and 
has  no  shame.  Dear,  tender,  silly  heart  !  promise  me  to 
leave  that  man  and  I  will  pray  for  you  every  night  I  live, 
that  the  stars  of  heaven  shall  not  have  your  brightness 
and  you  shall  shine  from  the  better  world  beyond.  Will 
you  promise  me  ? " 

"  I  will,  James  Reynolds.  I  have  resolved  to  go  back 
to  New  York  and  return  to  Pennsylvania  no  more.  I 
shall  go,  dear  Jim,  and  look  at  my  mother's  grave." 

She  also  gave  way  a  moment  to  her  feelings,  and  leaned 
upon  the  neck  where  she  had  been  a  bride. 

The  assembly  was  sounded  from  the  village,  loud  and 
petulantly  : 

"  Up,  up,  up  and  away  ! 

Is  the  call  of  Clingman's  men." 

He  gave  her  innocent,  confiding  kisses.  They  were 
given  back  by  a  redeeming  impulse  of  repentance. 

"  I  know  you  have  a  noble  heart,"  he  sobbed.  "  Good- 
by." 

As  he  was  about  to  disengage  himself  and  take  up  his 
belt  and  bayonet,  violent  hands  were  laid  upon  him  and 
he  was  thrown  to  the  ground. 

"  Desertion,  heigh?  "  exclaimed  a  deep,  excited  voice. 
"  Won't  march,  heigh  ?  I  reckon  this  is  the  time  to  close 
him  out,  Mari  !  " 

Before  Reynolds  could  do  more  than  stagger  to  his 
knees  and  recognize  his  assailant  with  a  yell  of  horror  and 
pain,  the  stalwart  ruffian  was  upon  him  again  with  all  his 
giant  strength,  and  bore  him  to  the  ground  and  rolled 
him  toward  the  bank  of  the  rampart  and  beat  him 
there. 

"  Striking  at  a  s'perior  officer,  heigh  ?  "  ejaculated  Jacob 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  135 

Clingman,  with  the  united  desperation  of  the  jealous  hus 
band  and  the  hired  bravo.  "  That's  death." 

He  drew  his  sword  and  sought  to  detach  himself  to 
run  Reynolds  through. 

The  private  soldier,  already  wounded,  bleeding,  and 
full  of  terror,  fought  to  hold  to  Clingman's  breast  and 
save  his  life.  They  had  struggled  to  their  feet,  and  the 
grapple  was  frightful  to  see. 

Maria  gave  a  loud  scream  as  soon  as  she  could  find 
breath  or  understanding,  and  cried: 

"  Jakje,  don't  kill  that  man  !  Don't  kill  James  Rey 
nolds  !  " 

"  It's  too  late,"  muttered  the  ruffian,  as  he  choked 
Reynolds'  throat  with  both  hands  and  by  blows  with  his 
knees  forced  the  soldier  to  the  river  bank  and  butted  him 
over  with  Clingman's  bull-like  head. 

The  soldier  fell  backward  down  the  bank,  and  rolled 
to  the  bottom  like  one  dead. 

"  You've  killed  him  !  Almighty  God,  he's  dead  !  "  the 
wife  exclaimed. 

"  Them  was  your  orders,  Mari,  I  reckon.  To  obleege 
you,  I'll  finish  by  cutting  his  throat,  as  thar  won't  be  time 
to  look  for  him  before  we  march. " 

He  flourished  his  sword,  and  glanced  at  her  with  the 
choler  of  the  combat  and  of  worse  jealousy,  grunting: 

"  A-kissin',  was  he  ?  Mari,  he'll  kiss  you  no  more. 
That's  the  priwilege  of  statesmen  and  of — your'n  truly, 
Jake  Clingman." 

The  double  wife  gave  a  scream  with  all  her  power, 
which  woke  the  very  echoes  like  the  Indian's  war-whoop 
of  other  days — the  scream  of  real  horror  that  has  no 
match  in  the  universe  when  woman's  supreme  fright  is 
come. 

"  Halloo!  halloo  there  !  "  answered  a  voice  near  by. 

Clingman  was  arrested  in  the  fell  purpose  of  despatch 
ing  his  victim,  and  had  already  started  down  the  river 
bank  for  that  end  when  the  scream  detained  him. 

"  Come  quickly,  and  save  Mr.  Reynolds,  my  husband," 
Maria  called.  "  O  Mr.  Priestley  !  a  villain  has  killed 
him." 

It  was  indeed  Joseph  Priestley,  Jr.,  coming  down  the 
river  path  with  his  wife. 

"  Halloo  !  halloo  !  "  answered  Joseph,  running. 


136  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Clingman  darted  up  the  bank  and  into  the  bush  toward 
the  top  of  the  cliff. 

"  He's  down  there,"  Mrs.  Reynolds  gasped,  tottering 
into  Joseph's  arms.  "  I'm  afraid  Clingman  has  killed 
him." 

The  Priestley  couple  gazed  down  and  saw  the  motion 
less  figure  in  military  buff  and  blue  at  the  pebbly  edge 
of  the  current,  head  downward  in  the  water. 

"  Unwind  your  arms  from  that  woman,  Joe  !  "  Mrs. 
Priestley  spoke  in  cold  disdain.  "  Don't  touch  her!  She's 
too  artful  to  fall.  I  know  her  to  be  her  husband's  mur 
derer." 

Mrs.  Reynolds  unclosed  her  eyes  and  gave  a  little 
scream. 

"  You  say  a  false,  cruel  thing,  Mrs.  Priestley,"  she  ex 
claimed,  "  and  not  your  first  attempt  to  injure  me.  God 
knows  I  pitied  that  man  and  received  his  pardon  when  he 
was  assaulted  by  a  ruffian." 

"  Then  the  worse  your  crime,"  Mrs.  Prie'stley  contin 
ued.  "  I  was  the  witness  of  your  instigation  of  this  mur 
der  at  my  husband's  farm  near  Northumberland,  when 
that  portly  common  officer  came  there,  and  you  said  to 
him  :  '  I  hope  Reynolds  is  killed.  As  long  as  he  lives 
I  shall  be  in  dread.  I  loathe  him. '  Is  that  not  so, 
madame  ? " 

"  No,  no  ;  I  appeal  to  God  !  I  had  no  part  in  that 
poor  creature's  fate." 

"  You  know  better,  Mrs.  Reynolds.  It  was  I  who  then 
cried  '  Murderess! '  and  you  fell  to  the  ground." 

Mrs.  Reynolds  really  sank  to  the  earth  now,  for  her 
sustainer,  with  uniform  steadiness  of  view,  had  only  been 
looking  at  the  man  at  the  bottom  of  the  rampart,  and 
now  Joseph  Priestley  shouted,  as  he  forgot  Mrs.  Reynolds 
altogether  : 

"  Wife,  that  fellow  is  getting  up.  He's  not  at  all  dead. 
Merely  an  affray,  I  suspect !  " 

The  husband  went  down  the  gravelly  bank  as  fast  as 
convenient,  and  assisted  to  hold  the  rising  soldier,  who 
seemed  stunned  for  a  moment,  till  suddenly  the  shrill 
fife  and  drum  called  the  assembly  again  at  the  ferry 
near  by  : 

"  Up,  up,  up  and  away 
Is  the  call  of  Clingman's  men." 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  137 

"Duty,  duty,"  Reynolds  spoke,  and  looked  dazedly  for 
his  accoutrements  upon  the  ground. 

"  Here's  your  bayonet  !  Here's  your  belt,  my  man  !  " 
exclaimed  Joseph.  "  Are  you  much  hurt  ?  " 

"No,  I  hope  not.     I  want  to  march." 

"  But  vender's  your  wife.  You  should  bring  this  other 
rascal  to  account,  shouldn't  you  ? " 

"No,  sir,  no,"  the  soldier  sighed.  "It  would  only 
make  him  cruel  to  Maria.  It's  nothing,  sir,  but  the 
brutality  of  an  officer  to  a  private,  I  think.  My  wife  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it." 

He  limped  along  the  margin  to  join  his  company  ; 
their  scows  were  speedily  out  in  the  current,  full  of  blue 
and  buff  soldiery,  horses,  and  bayonets,  crossing  to  the 
western  shore.  The  music  sounded  down  the  spacious 
vale  as  tender  as  if  the  world  had  no  passions — not  even 
ambition. 

"Poor  Jim  !  "  Maria  Reynolds  sighed  ;  "  I  shall  never 
see  him  more,  I  feel." 

"Lizzie,"  remarked  Joe  Priestley,  "you  were  entirely 
wrong  about  Reynolds  ;  her  man  exonerates  her  fully." 

"  I  know  your  motive,  madame,"  Mrs.  Reynolds  added 
aloud.  "  In  good  time  it  will  appear." 

Colonel  Hamilton  was  now  seen  coming  down  the 
bank,  searching  for  some  one,  as  it  seemed  ;  for  Mrs. 
Priestley  called  him  : 

"Hamilton,  we  are  here  !  " 

"  Pardon  me,  Mr.  Priestley,  if  I  finish  what  I  had  to 
say  to  your  wife  ;  for  I  am  to  cross  the  river  after  the 
President,  who  has  already  passed." 

Hamilton  gave  his  arm  to  Mrs.  Priestley  and  walked 
further  on,  relieving  the  suppressed  female  acrimony  from 
the  danger  of  an  explosion. 

The  activity  of  the  campaign,  the  love  and  encomium 
of  Washington,  had  well-nigh  relieved  Hamilton  of  pre 
occupation  on  his  wife's  account ;  but  the  "sight  of  Mrs. 
Reynolds,  to  whom  he  did  not  speak,  gave  him  the  nausea 
of  a  disturbed  conscience  again. 

Why  was  she  here?  was  it  to  regain  possession  of  her 
husband,  whom  Hamilton  had  identified  in  the  guard  at 
the  inn  ?  Had  she  been  already  confidential  with  Lizzie 
Priestley  ? 

"  Dare  I  take  your  hand?"  asked  Hamilton  of  the  latter 


138  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

as  they  walked  together  under  the  elms  and  poplars  of 
the  river-side  grove.  "  I  feel  the  need  to-day  of  a  woman 
friend.  Do  you  believe  there  can  be  friendship  across 
the  sensitive  lines  of  sex  without  love  ? " 

"  Surely.     If  not,  marriage  is  an  iron  grate." 

"  It  must  be  high  friendship,  though,"  the  young  sec 
retary  said,  "  not  frivolous  familiarity.  In  your  warm 
regard  for  me  I  thought  I  saw  something  like  the  pure 
affection  of  my  wife's  sisters  for  me.  To  them  *  Alex 
ander  '  is  what  the  French  gallantly  call  the  beau  frere, 
the  superfine  brotherhood." 

"  Have  you  several  belles  sczurs?  " 

"  Yes,  a  most  desirable  family  surrounding  ;  one  sister 
of  my  wife  is  the  wife  of  the  young  patroon  of  Albany ; 
they  range  down  to  delightful  little  girls.  And  Eliza  and 
I  have  five  children,  the  last  a  babe.  No  man  could  be 
more  happily  married." 

He  signed. 

"  It  is  dreadful,"  involuntarily  said  Lizzie  Priestley. 

"  Dreadful?"  Hamilton  repeated.  "  What  ?  Yes,  that 
must  be  dreadful  which  sincere  friendship  has  to  reject 
from  conversation.  One  can  be  hurt  anywhere,  and  sur 
geons,  families  can  discuss  it  ;  but  there  are  self-inflicted 
wounds  upon  one's  own  honor  that  friendship  itself  dare 
not  look  upon." 

"  I  pity  your  wife,  Hamilton.     But  I  pity  you  more." 

"  Oh  !  do  not.  She  is  the  only  sufferer  ;  but  for  her  I 
would  face  this  world." 

"  If  my  son  were  to  make  a  great  mistake  I  would  take 
him  into  my  confidence,"  said  the  English  wife.  "  The 
mistake  could  not  be  so  great  that  I  would  not  do  so.  If 
it  was  a  transgression  like " 

"  Like  mine,"  mournfully  sighed  Hamilton. 

"  If  it  was  that  mistake,  it  would  not  seem  to  me, — as 
a  mother,  a  woman,— the  very  worst." 

"  But  as  a  wife,  could  you  forgive  it  ? " 

She  felt  a  bitter  taste  in  her  throat  as  she  swallowed 
something  hard  there  and  replied  : 

"  It  might  almost  kill  me  ;  but  if  I  loved  my  husband, 
no  other  woman  should  take  him  from  me.  I  would  re 
cover  him,  if  I  could." 

"  I  said  *  forgive  him  '  ?  " 

"  If  I  did  not  forgive  him,  how  could  I  be  happy  again 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  139 

with  him  ?  If  I  could  not  forgive  him,  it  would  be  evi 
dence  that  I  had  ceased  to  love  him.  Oh!  what  must  love 
not  forgive  ?  What  is  it  not  always  forgiving,  perhaps, 
even  in  its  perfect  trust  ?  There  is  an  allowance  to  be 
made  for  men.  They  are  not  mothers." 

She  felt  like  one  walking  on  blushes,  but  her  interest  in 
this  man  was  becoming  heroic. 

"  There,  there,"  said  Hamilton,  "  is  man's  cowardice 
and  meanest  sin  :  that  because  he  foresees  no  penalty, 
probably  is  not  detected,  he  can  break  the  vows  that,  if 
his  wife  also  broke  them,  it  would  break  his  heart." 

u  Gallantry,  some  of  our  courts  and  kings  still  called  it." 

"  So  did  the  French  who  came'to  our  assistance — mar 
quises,  gentlemen  upon  the  magnanimous  errand  of 
courage  and  liberty,  and  still  bringing  their  belles  Gabriels 
over.  I  could  speak  their  language  and  was  popular 
with  them.  Perhaps  there — but,  no.  Why  plead  the 
inclinations  of  one's  wayward  heart  to  be  from  another's 
example  ?  I  see  no  honorable  way  back  but  manful  ruin 
and  confession." 

As  Lizzie  deliberated  what  next  to  say,  for  she  was 
profoundly  interested,  and  with  some  restless,  undefined 
idea  of  helping  Hamilton,  her  hand  came  in  contact  with 
a  letter  in  her  pocket. 

"  Oh  !  Colonel  Hamilton,  here  is  a  letter  to  you  from 
Colonel  Burr  ;  he  gave  it  to  me  to  mail  at  Harrisburg 
unless  I  should  see  you." 

As  Hamilton  broke  the  sealing-wax  and  read,  Mrs. 
Priestley  remembered  what  he  had  said  about  Friend 
ship — that  it  was  impotent  in  man's  only  forlorn  necessity. 

It  could  watch,  she  reflected,  and  suffer  and  survive  at 
the  death-bed  of  man;  but  if  his  reputation  was  as  much 
as  scratched,  Friendship  would  run  away  like  the  cow 
ardly  Levite. 

He  had  said  that  the  point  of  despair  in  his  offence 
would  be  his  wife's  discovery  of  it. 

"Strange,"  queried  Lizzie  of  her  ardent  heart,  "  that 
a  man  like  this  is  not  afraid  of  the  world,  but  only  of  his 
wife,  who  is  vowed  to  his  honor  and  obedience  !  And 
yet,  if  my  husband  had  Hamilton's  public  career,  would 
I  not  smooth  his  way  to  peace  and  courage,  if  my  heart 
had  to  be  the  step  on  which  he  would  rise  again  ?  No,  I 
would  not  let  him  fall." 


140        .  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

And  yet,  even  as  she  spoke,  a  feeling  of  avoidance 
toward  Hamilton  was  perceptible  in  her  mind,  and  she 
wondered  if  her  husband  would  excuse  her  for  minister 
ing  to  this  contagion. 

The  word  ';  contagion  "  made  her  indignant  at  herself. 

"  Salvation  cannot  be  contagion,"  she  thought,  fiercely. 
"  It  is  the  individual  redemption  of  a  soul.  God,  let  me 
find  some  way  to  rescue  this  man  and  put  his  enemies  to 
confusion  !  " 

"  It  seems  to  surround  me  everywhere,  Mistress  Liz 
zie,"  spoke  Hamilton,  with  a  smile  of  resignation,  hand 
ing  her  Colonel  Burr's  letter. 

"  Am  I  to  read  it,  sir  ?  " 

"  Certainly;  you  have  become  my  only  friend — you  and 
one  more  who  is  far  away.  Two  women — alas  !  I  must 
say  three — have  read  me  through." 

The  others  in  his  mind  were  Mrs.  Reynolds  and  Mar 
tha  Jefferson.  But  not  the  better  two  could  be  a  match 
for  the  wanton  one. 

Lizzie  Priestley  read  the  letter  with  increasing  fear. 
It  said: 

"NORTHUMBERLAND,  Oct.  — ,  1794. 
"  COLONEL  A.  HAMILTON. 

"My  Great  Constituent: — There  is  a  certain  Lieutenant  Jacob 
Clingman  among  Mifflin's  Pennsylvania  contingent  whom  it  would  be 
well  for  you  to  have  observed  when  you  enter  the  lonesome  and 
gloomy  denies  of  the  Alleghany  Mountain  country.  He  is  a  guardian, 
relative,  or  something  like  those,  of  my  Protean  client,  Maria  Liv 
ingston,  or  Maria  Reynolds.  She  also  is  in  these  Susquehanna  parts 
at  present,  possibly  following  the  army,  in  which  she  may  have  one 
or  more  lovers. 

"Clingman  has  twice  in  my  presence  expressed  a  deadly  hatred  of 
you,  and  the  last  time  it  was  so  flagrant  and  overt  that  I  would  have 
had  him  bound  over  in  this  place  to  keep  the  peace  but  that  our 
friends,  the  Priestleys,  who  have  settled  here,  might  ascertain  some 
thing  of  the  cause  of  his  offence;  and  gentle  Madame  Priestley  the 
younger  thinks  we  have  nobody  like  Hamilton. 

"A  female  scandal,  of  however  ridiculous  quality,  affecting  you. 
Colonel  Hamilton,  would  be  nuts  for  Jefferson,  Randolph,  Madison, 
and  the  Virginia  party,  and  my  hope  continues  to  be  that  we  shall 
unite  our  interests  and  confound  them  all.  I  told  you  that  I  would 
not  give  you  up.  We  must  be  together  for  long  politics,  for  conti 
nental  strategy. 

"  Clingman  intimates  that  if  he  can  waylay  you  on  the  mountains 
he  will  put  a  ball  into  you;  so  be  warned  by 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  A.  BURR." 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  l4l 

"  Oh  !  do  not  go  into  that  wild  country  and  incur  this 
risk,"  cried  Lizzie  Priestley,  taking  Hamilton's  hands  in 
both  of  hers.  "  I  have  just  seen  this  ruffian  Clingman 
nearly  murder  a  man,  and  in  the  very  presence  of  his 
wife " 

"  Clingman 's  wife — she  who  is  there  ?  "  Hamilton 
pointed  back. 

"  No,  Reynolds'  wife.  It  was  Reynolds  they  designed 
to  murder.  I  heard  her  instigate  it  at  Northumberland. 
It  would  have  been  done  here,  where  we  were  found  by 
you  at  this  river-side,  had  Joe  and  I  not  come  upon  the 
scene.  Such  a  determined,  blood-thirsty  assassination 
never  was  attempted.  He  will  certainly  kill  you,  Hamil 
ton." 

"  Fear  not  them  who  kill  the  body,  but  them  wrho  kill 
the  soul,"  Hamilton  replied  gently,  taking  Lizzie's  hands 
in  his  to  keep  her  calm.  "  I  fear  Senator  Aaron  Burr 
far  more  than  Mr.  Clingman.  He  has  my  letters  to  Mrs. 
Reynolds  and  hers  to  me.  He  is  my  unscrupulous  oppo 
nent  in  public  life,  and  the  enemy  of  my  wife's  father 
and  family.  As  for  Clingman,  you  must  know,  since  you 
have  penetrated  so  far  with  the  noblest  motives  into  this 
matter,  that  he  is  the  only,  the  first,  the  legal  husband  of 
Mrs.  Reynolds  ;  and  both  Reynolds  and  I,  and  perhaps 
Mrs.  Reynolds,  also — for  I  would  not  implicate  too  much 
evil  to  a  poor  woman — have  been  Clingman's  dupes  and 
puppets." 

Mrs.  Priestley  gave  a  scream,  so  loud  that  it  might 
have  alarmed  people  near  by. 

Hamilton  placed  his  hand  upon  her  mouth. 

"  Remember,  dear  friend,  that  others  may  be  near  !  " 

"O  Hamilton  !  I  see  more  than  you  can  see.  It  was 
that  perception  which  made  me  scream.  Aaron  Burr  has 
made  this  woman,  Clingman,  a  proposition  to  be  his 
creature  or  companion.  I  overheard  it  all  ;  and  she 
resisted  him,  and  then  he  threatened  her.  If  Reynolds 
had  been  murdered  by  Clingman  just  now,  as  nearly 
happened,  you  would  have  been  coming  down  this  path 
alone,  would  have  been  found  by  the  body  of  the  dead  man, 
and  your  injury  to  him,  with  his  assumed  wife's  presence 
there,  would  have  made  you  appear  the  Murderer." 

He  reflected  with  his  fine  blue  eyes,  threw  away  an  in 
stant's  care,  and  said  : 


142  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  My  dear  Lizzie — shall  I  dare  to  call  you  so  ? — a  good 
soldier  is  hardly  to  be  charged  with  a  murder.  But  I 
perceive  how  monstrous  is  the  yawning  gap  made  by  a 
single  moral  offence  ;  it  is  like  the  assassin's  thrust  in 
the  leather  doublet  through  which,  said  King  Henry  the 
Great,  the  English  army  invaded  France.  If  I  could 
keep  Mrs.  Reynolds  from  the  influence  of  Aaron  Burr  !  " 

"  Hamilton,  do  not  try  !  Let  them  unite  their  natures, 
which  do  more  mischief  dispersed  than  together,  like  all 
the  children  of  Evil.  I  made  you  my  friend  the  day 
I  saw  you  first.  That  day  this  spot  and  burden  upon 
your  life  were  revealed  to  me.  God  must  have  sent 
me  to  lift  the  cloud  from  your  life  and  character.  Oh  ! 
tell  me,  sir,  what  would  be  the  greatest  service  any 
human  being  could  render  to  you  ? " 

"  To  have  faith  in  me,"  said  Hamilton,  "and  be  silent. 
Be  sure  one's  sins  will  find  him  out." 

"  Do  you  dread  the  publicity  of  this  offence  ?  " 

"  No  ;  it  would  rather  be  a  relief  to  me,  if  my  wife 
could  stand  it.  But  that  is  impossible." 

Lizzie  listened,  trembled,  and  paused,  then  spoke,  with 
a  sad  face,  these  words  : 

"  O  Magdalen  among  men  !  O  Hamilton  !  Raise 
your  hand  and  swear  to  me  that  you  will  never  again 
forget  your  character  and  wife  ;  for  I  see  a  way  to  help 
you,  and  this  promise  must  be  the  consolation  of  my 
friendship  and  the  assurance  to  my  conscience  in  the 
sacrifice  I  am  to  make." 

He  hesitated  and  endeavored  to  speak. 

"  It  is  too  late,"  exclaimed  Lizzie  Priestley.  "  I  have 
made  a  resolution.  I  have  taken  up  a  cross.  Swear  to 
me,  Hamilton,  to  be  a  spotless  man  for  all  the  remainder 
of  your  days  !  " 

"  That  I  can  say,  my  gentle  friend,  upon  my  knees,  in 
the  depths  of  contrition,  in  the  hope  of  love  and  heaven  ! 
My  hearth  shall  be  swept,  my  heart  shall  be  purified  ;  I 
shall  strive,  through  a  nature  victorious,  to  see  God  !  " 

He  sank  upon  his  knee  and  raised  his  hand,  still  hold 
ing  in  his  other  hand  her  own. 

The  woodland  enclosure  where  he  knelt  was  disturbed, 
and  the  bushes  and  boughs  parted. 

In  the  interstice  appeared  Joe  Priestley  and  Maria 
Reynolds. 


MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  143 

Lizzie  Priestley  heard  the  words  from  Mrs.  Reynolds, 
languidly  uttered  : 

"  I  told  you,  Mr.  Joseph,  that  marriage  was  a  failure 
and  love  a  success.  There  stands  my  lover  and  that  is 
the  lady  who  has  cut  me  out  from  him." 

Hamilton  arose,  with  the  barest  trace  of  embarrassment 
upon  his  countenance,  and  instantly  rejoined  : 

"  That  is  Mrs.  Reynolds'  misunderstanding,  friend 
Priestley.  Nobody  has  cut  her  out,  as  she  terms  it.  I 
have  been  her  lover  and  none  other's.  From  your  wife  I 
have  just  accepted  an  extravagant  offer  of  a  nameless 
friendship,  and  I  hope  you  will  esteem  me  to  be  a  gentle 
man." 

"  Joe,"  spoke  Mrs.  Priestley,  still  holding  Hamilton's 
hand,  *'  I  ask  you  before  that  woman  if  you  have  any  dis 
trust  of  me  ?  Speak,  sir  !  " 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  blankly  revolving  the  situation,  "  I 
can't  say  that  I  have.  As  a  citizen  of  this  country,  or,  at 
least,  one  subject  to  its  laws,  I  think  I  should  take  Minister 
Hamilton  at  his  word.  Surely  there  is  no  occasion  of  his 
doing  any  trespass  upon  me.  If  I  thought  any  injury 
was  meditated,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  speak  out  like  an 
Englishman." 

Hamilton  led  Mrs.  Priestley  to  her  husband  and  took 
his  hand. 

11  Appearances,  Mr.  Priestley,  which  lie  against  one 
wrho  would  be  a  gentleman,  are  the  test  of  sincere  friend 
ship  and  of  the  confidence  of  society.  If  you  will  believe 
me,  there  is  no  limit  you  cannot  extend  to  this  lady's 
freedom  ;  everywhere  you  will  find  her  your  wife.  And 
with  this  belief,  I  bid  you  both,  for  a  time,  farewell.  Mrs. 
Reynolds,  shall  I  take  you  into  Harrisburg  ?  " 

He  raised  his  hat  to  husband  and  wife. 

A  thrill  of  pleasure  and  of  triumph  passed  through 
Maria  Livingston.  She  raised  her  large  eyes  to  Mrs. 
Priestley,  and  sighed  : 

"  Hamilton,  then  you  love  me  still  !  " 

No  agitation,  nor  resentment,  nor  competition  appeared 
upon  Lizzie  Priestley's  countenance.  Her  girlish  fig 
ure  and  silken  curls  and  clear  gray  eyes  expressed  a 
mixture  of  weakness  and  strength,  of  desertion  and 
resources. 

"  Joe,"  she  exclaimed,  with   fervent  pain,  as  the  other 


144  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

pair  passed  away,  "  I  am  going  to  put  your  confidence 
in  me  to  its  greatest  test.  I  want  you  to  go  to  Phila 
delphia  with  me,  and  not  to  ask  me  what  I  am  going 
for." 

"  Lizzie,  wife,  I  cannot  go.  Father  is  dependent  on 
me.  For  him  only  I  came  to  America.  I  am  his  right 
hand — and  mother's." 

"  Then,  Joe,  I  want  you  to  put  me  on  the  stage  for 
Philadelphia,  and  let  me  go  there  alone." 

"  Art  thou  to  leave  me,  wife — to  leave  me  in  America 
without  thee  ?  Hast  thou  gone  mad  ?  " 

"Oh !  kiss  me  darling,  here  in  the  woods,  where  the  birds 
are  singing  free,  and  there  is  no  jealousy  between  male 
and  female.  Let  me  fly  a  little  way  from  your  sight.  I 
have  a  crumb  of  charity  I  would  fly  with.  Keep  thee  by 
father  and  trust  in  Heaven's  purposes  and  let  me  go!" 

He  folded  her  in  his  arms,  and  his  frame  was  a  moment 
convulsed  with  emotion. 

"  I  can't  tell,  Lizzie,  lass,  what  has  come  into  thee.  It 
can't  be  anything  religious,  like  Madame  Jemima  Wilkin 
son's  call  or  Mistress  Ann  Lee's  mission.  Everybody 
here  seems  to  fly  off  to  make  another  church  or  sect,  like 
to  father's  ;  but  it  can't  be  that  with  thee.  If  you  would 
stay  with  me,  I  could  live  where  the  panthers  breed  and 
the  bears  make  their  dens.  But  in  coming  to  America 
with  me,  far  from  native  England  and  its  olden,  settled 
ways,  thy  walk  was  so  unselfish  and  thy  heart  so  brave 
that  I  ask  no  greater  evidence  of  thy  love  and  faith. 
Yes,  go  to  Philadelphia  !  Return  when  thou  wilt  do  so. 
And  I  must  stay  by  father." 

Every  word  had  been  an  effort,  and  the  concession  was 
such  a  mighty  sacrifice  that  it  left  him  piteously  tender 
and  empty  and  streaming  tears. 

"  My  darling,"  spoke  the  wife,  "I  cannot  promise  thee. 
I  leave  my  love  right  here.  Nothing  have  I  to  take 
away " 

"  Thou  hast  !  thou  hast !  "  from  suffering  Joe.  "Thou 
hast  to  take  away  some  deed  of  friendship,  wife,  I  think." 

"  Joe,  some  day  mother  will  die,  and  father  Priestley 
must  see  her  go.  Thou  or  I  will  die,  too,  and  not  to 
gether.  Look  at  me  now,  as  if  I  was  leaving  thee,  at 
Heaven's  wish,  and  kiss  and  bless  me  as  I  tear  me  from 
my  heart." 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  145 

There   was   a   cannon   fired,  and   it   made   the   couple 
tremble  in  each  other's  arms. 

Hamilton  was  crossing  the  Susquehanna. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

FINANCIER    IN    TEMPTATION. 

HAMILTON  gave  no  concern  to  Lizzie  Priestley's  ex 
cited  proffer  of  some  possible  or  impossible  sacrifice.  He 
had  resolved  to  make  a  last  effort  to  conciliate  Mrs. 
Reynolds  and  take  her  from  those  who  controlled  her, 
more  especially  Aaron  Burr,  and  this  problem  expelled 
from  his  mind  romantic  expectations  of  what  any  other 
woman  might  do  in  his  behalf. 

Of  an  eminently  practical  Scotch  mind,  Hamilton  had 
also  a  French  imagination,  suggestive  of  the  union  of 
the  Hamiltons  and  Grammonts  in  literature,  and  this 
French  gallantry  in  his  nature  made  him  averse  to 
threatening  a  woman  whom  he  might  convert  to  friend 
ship. 

He  had  already  detached  Reynolds  the  husband  from 
the  cabal.  If  he  could  now  annex  the  wife  of  Clingman, 
— which  it  was  perfectly  easy  to  do,  if  he  would  further 
tamper  with  his  conscience, — he  might  recover  the  corre 
spondence  between  them.  But  could  he  trust  himself  ? 

That  which  had  originally  tempted  him  was  in  his 
nature  still — the  ardor  of  youth,  the  bequest  of  inflamma 
ble  races,  partiality  for  female  society,  the  coquetry  of  the 
staff  and  the  camp. 

Already  the  strong  October  air  of  the  Pennsylvania 
upland  was  in  his  pulses  and  his  brain,  and  his  fondness 
for  a  soldier's  life  was  stronger  than  ever  as  he  saw  the 
army,  obedient  to  his  Treasury  regulations  and  Cabinet 
control,  coming  to  rendezvous  by  obedient  thousands  at 
the  town  of  Carlisle,  within  musketry  sound  of  Harris- 
burg. 

Washington  and  Hamilton  were  the  names  the  soldiers 

cheered.       Determination   and   indignation   were    in  the 

bright,   onflowing  multitude  of  youthful   patriots,  called 

from  their  desks,  merchants'  counters,  mechanical  trades, 

10 


146  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

and  farms  to  administer  chastisement  to  the  sneaking 
and  insolent  assassins  of  the  new  nation. 

As  the  columns  trod  the  bad  roads  and  carried  their 
unwonted  burdens,  they  grew  madder  and  madder  that 
this  strain  and  sacrifice  had  been  imposed  upon  them  by 
frontier  rustics  and  fellows  of  but  partial  civilization  ; 
whereas  the  army  was  the  flower  of  the  best  condition  in 
the  Middle  States,  recruited  upon  the  stem  of  voluntary 
militia  organizations  in  all  the  prosperous  towns  and 
cities,  and  Hamilton  beheld  in  it  such  an  army  as  the 
French  first  sent  to  famished  America  in  the  gorgeous 
clothing  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth. 

The  music  of  the  bands  as  fragments  of  soldiery  almost 
hourly  arrived,  the  broadcloth  uniforms,  the  superior  in 
struments  and  arms,  the  pride  of  bearing  and  of  patriot 
ism,  made  Hamilton  sigh  to  be  in  the  ranks  or  lead  his 
regiment  again. 

And  above  all  times  of  opportunity,  war  is  the  time  of 
love,  releasing  the  mind  from  its  business  fetters,  giving 
to  life  a  holiday  attire,  strengthening  the  physical  nature 
by  spirited  exercise,  and  bringing  to  the  wayside  and  the 
windows  of  houses  the  delighted,  the  magnetized  maidens 
and  young  dames  to  see  the  millinery  of  grenadier  hats, 
gold  buttons,  epaulettes,  standards,  flushed,  clean,  manly 
faces,  and  eyes  that  speak  admiration  and  acquaintance. 
Sad  is  the  lot  of  jealous  husbands  and  suitors  when  the 
soldiers  come,  and  the  soldier  whose  spirit  was  in  this 
army  and  who  shared  its  every  fervid  attribute,  was 
Alexander  Hamilton,  the  more  distinguished  by  his  civil 
ian  dress. 

With  those  thoughts  triumphing  over  his  late  depression, 
he  turned  and  saw  at  his  side  the  incarnation  of  love. 

Maria  was  more  beautiful-than  ever. 

Country  exercise  and  travel,  rest  and  gentle  association, 
the  revival  of  good  family  points,  and  an  interesting,  if 
neglected,  nature — she  was  a  Livingston,  and  there  was 
some  pride  of  political  rivalry  in  having  possessed  her — 
had  given  Maria  a  splendor  that  made  Hamilton  almost 
faint.  The  words  he  heard  had  caused  this  faintness  in 
him  : 

"  O  Hamilton  !  to  touch  you  is  so  sweet.  To  find  you 
kind  consoles  me  in  a  moment  for  all  your  cruelty.  I 
love  you,  Hamilton." 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  147 

She  stopped  and  sighed  and  inhaled  the  golden  harvest 
air,  with  its  evaporation  of  fruitage  and  of  the  early,  deli 
cate  frosts,  as  if  the  aroma  of  Hamilton's  condescension 
scented  the  world. 

Her  head  turned  upon  its  fine,  warm  neck  to  this  side 
and  to  that  as  she  expanded  her  large  frame  with  suc 
cessive  drinkings  of  that  pippin  air,  the  warmth  and  smoke 
of  autumnal  decay,  and  the  tingle  of  the  blood  oxygenized 
from  the  ozone  of  rivers  and  of  mountains.  Suddenly  she 
opened  her  arms  and  articulated  the  breath  : 

"  Hamilton,  won't  you  kiss  me  ?  " 

In  the  awkwardness  of  the  instant,  when  duty  and 
temptation  seemed  to  require  nothing  less  than  a  miracle 
to  compromise  their  contention,  a  band  of  brass  instru 
ments  in  the  town  above  brayed  forth  a  strain  that  might 
have  been  the  overture  to  the  last  judgment. 

In  another  instant  a  battery  of  artillery  pealed  with 
vehement  energy,  shooting  fifteen  guns,  the  number  of 
American  States. 

The  interference  was  Hamilton's  relief. 

"  You  hear  my  commands,  my  friend  ?  Governor 
Mifflin  is  setting  out.  The  President  is  far  on  the  road 
to  Carlisle.  Let  me  ask  you  where  you  -  are  to  stay  in 
this  exposed  time  and  place  ?  " 

"  What  does  that  matter  so  I  am  near  Colonel  Hamil 
ton  ?  Perhaps  I  will  stay  here  at  Harrisburg  till  you 
return." 

"  That  will  do,"  said  Hamilton,  taking  the  quickest 
pretext  to  make  his  dispositions.  "  I  hear  that  Reynolds 
and  Clingman  have  had  an  affray.  Is  it  so  ?  " 

"  Yes;  Jake  used  his  advantage  as  an  officer  to  whip 
Mr.  Reynolds  dreadfully.  It  was  on  account  of  Mr.  Rey 
nolds  going  over  to  you,  I  suppose." 

"  I  shall  observe  Mr.  Clingman,"  said  Hamilton, 
blandly.  ''  I  suppose  that  you  wish  to  be  emancipated 
from  his  mastership  ?" 

"  I  ask  but  one  master,  Colonel  Hamilton,  and  will 
obey  him  like  a  child.  You  know  whom  that  is." 

"  I  suppose  I  do,"  he  answered  gracefully.  "  You 
must  completely  separate  yourself  from  Clingman,  and 
he  can  then  harm  neither  of  us.  It  is  but  a  step  from  his 
beating  Reynolds  to  beating  you.  He  will  find  before 
many  days  that  Falstaff  is  without  either  honor  or 


148  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

humor  in  this  army.  You  are  not  going  to  transfer  your 
dependence  from  Clingman  to  Colonel  Burr,  Maria  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  no,  Hamilton." 

"  I  thought  you  would  not  do  me  that  injustice.  You 
know  that  I  have  never  harmed  you,  never  would  wish  to 
do  so.  But  you  must  be  very  careful.  While  you  hold 
my  honor  in  your  silence  and  can  somewhat  injure  me, 
the  instant  you  speak  you  will  be  destroyed.  I  shall  be 
made  to  blush,  but  you  will  be  entirely  shunned  and 
friendless.  This  I  tell  you,  Maria,  from  every  motive 
of  humanity.  What  have  you  done  with  the  letters  you 
extracted  from  Mr.  Bingham's  bank  ?  " 

She  had  no  time  to  invent  or  cajole,  for  his  illumination 
overspread  her  in  the  sentence: 

"  You  have  given  those  letters,  Maria,  to  Colonel 
Burr  !  " 

She  looked  upon  his  high  Scotch  forehead  and  rose- 
and-brown  complexion,  now  flushed  with  stern  intelli 
gence,  and  his  lucid  blue  eyes  reading  her,  and  she  fell 
upon  the  ground  and  clasped  his  feet. 

"  Dear,  dreadful  Hamilton,  Colonel  Burr  stole  them 
from  Mr.  Clingman  at  the  point  of  the  pistol  that  day 
you  came  with  Reynolds  to  confront  us.  Oh!  if  I  could 
make  Colonel  Burr  return  them  !  " 

"  It  is  too  late,"  replied  Hamilton.  u  He  would  hardly 
keep  in  his  custody  letters  your  lawyer  might  replevin. 
Where  would  be  the  place  of  their  ultimate  disposi 
tion  ? " 

Hamilton  raised  his  fingers  to  his  forehead,  gazed  a 
moment  upon  the  ground,  and  answered  himself  silently: 

"  Jefferson!     It  is  well  to  know  the  worst." 

"  Mercy,  Hamilton!  "  exclaimed  the  woman  at  his  feet. 

"  Maria,  when  those  letters  come  to  light  I  shall  stand 
forth  and  relate  the  truth.  It  will  be  necessary  to  name 
you  and  to  describe  you.  Before  that  hour  comes  what 
will  be  your  character  that  is  to  be  described  ?  Go,  my 
poor  girl,  and  improve  it,  that  you  may  have  a  better 
account  to  give  of  it.  I  pity  you  with  all  my  heart." 

He  was  gone,  and  she  was  dismayed  by  the  serious 
ness  of  his  kindness. 

In  an  aimless  way  she  strolled  into  Harrisburg,  and 
saw  Joe  Priestley  putting  his  wife  in  the  Philadelphia 
stage  at  the  tavern  door. 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  149 

As  Joseph  turned  away  with  weeping  eyes  he  ran 
against  Mrs.  Reynolds. 

"  Where  are  you  going,  Reynolds  ?  "  he  asked,  without 
motive. 

There  was  a  roll  of  drums  at  the  ferry  landing  ;  Ham 
ilton  was  being  received  on  board  the  barge,  and  was 
about  to  cross  the  Susquehanna. 

"  Joe,  you're  a  widower  ;  I  am  a  widow.  Both  of  us  are 
deserted.  Won't  you  take  me  to  Carlisle  to  see  the  army  ? " 

"  I  don't  care,  Reynolds  ;  it's  but  sixteen  miles,  I  hear. 
Yes  ;  come  along,  lass,  and  drown  our  sorrows." 

Almost  everything  wheeled  and  every  sort  of  beast  of 
burden  were  engaged  to  carry  congressmen,  contractors, 
politicians,  and  belated  military  officers  to  Carlisle. 

The  only  conveyance  Joe  Priestley  could  get  for  Maria 
was  a  seat  in  an  emigrant  farm-wagon  bound  for  the 
West,  and  occupied  by  flying  Marylanders  from  the 
Eastern  shore,  who  had  taken  the  universal  alarm  at  the 
yellow  fever's  visitations  to  the  cities,  and  resolved  to  quit 
their  typhoid  and  bilious  fever  districts  for  the  new  land 
of  the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash,  which  had  just  been 
cleared  of  Indians  by  General  Wayne. 

Those  emigrating  poor  white  classes  were  found  in  the 
subsequent  march  sprinkling  all  the  way  to  Pittsburgh, 
giving  amusement  to  the  soldiery,  and  alternate  days 
shaking  with  the  chill  or  hectic  with  the  fever.  Moving 
westward  before  the  day  of  public  education,  they  were 
to  seed  much  of  the  farther  West  with  a  poor  quality  of 
human  grain,  and  be  the  demagogue's  sickling  for  two 
or  three  generations.  The  soldiery  were  often  seen  with 
the  greatest  wonder  and  alarm  by  these  people,  who  had 
observed  nothing  of  the  Revolutionary7  War  in  their  re 
mote  peninsulas  except  the  persecution  of  some  sectarian 
or  other,  held  to  be  "a  Tory." 

Joe  Priestley  manfully  walked  by  the  rickety  wagon, 
where  Maria  yawned  upon  the  best  quilt  of  the  emi 
grants,  whose  eyes  never  ceased  to  be  distended  as  they 
gazed  and  gazed  upon  her  from  their  household  rubbish 
— bed,  chairs,  spinet,  tin  pans,  and  kitchen  junk. 

There  were  six  children,  a  grown  daughter,  man  and 
wife,  and  two  doleful  slave  boys,  four  small  oxen,  and 
two  forest  ponies.  The  daughter  was  of  a  pallid,  sweet 
expression,  and  Maria  said  to  her  : 


150  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"Why  do  you  move  all  these  poor  effects  so  very 
far  ?  " 

"  Lord-a-massy  !  "  exclaimed  the  girl's  mother,  "  it's 
tuk  us  a  lifetime  to  get  'em,  honey.  We  don't  want  to 
sleep  in  the  pore-house  out  yonder,  wha'  we  gwyn." 

"  I  wish  I  was  your  daughter,  going  too,"  Maria 
spoke. 

"  You  ?  "  broke  forth  the  girl,  "  with  them  rings,  on 
your  fingers  ?  I  reckon  you  never  go  barefoot,  du  ye  ? 
I  had  a  pair  of  shues  one  time,  tu." 

The  old  man  shook  the  fabric  of  the  wagon  as  his 
ague  rattled  his  bones,  and  the  little  children  cried  be 
cause  the  "  pone  "  bread  was  gone. 

"  O  Joseph  !  "  sighed  Maria,  "  what  a  price  they  pay 
to  keep  virtuous.  But,"  she  added,  to  her  own  premon 
itory  heart,  "  there  are  also  poor-houses  for  the  vicious 
and  lonely  dyings  in  them." 

The  glorious  Cumberland  Valley  stood  high  between 
the  crystal  drains  within  the  parallel  mountain  ridges, 
and  the  limestone  outcrops  had  lured  the  German  in 
from  his  adjacent  settlements  of  York  County  ;  fields 
were  already  clean  and  worm-fenced  ;  the  farm  settle 
ments  were  changing  from  log  to  limestone  ;  the  un 
folding  valley,  twenty  miles  from  side  to  side,  seemed  to 
be  the  cathedral  nave  to  some  glorious  chancel  at  the 
centre  of  the  continent. 

It  was  nearly  night  when  they  en-tered  Carlisle,  a  large 
village  of  log  and  limestone  dwellings  and  trading-stores, 
with  the  Penns'  square  in  the  middle  and  on  it  the  es 
tablished  church  of  North  Ireland — military  Presbyterian. 
A  clear  limestone  spring  ran  by  the  town  to  one  of  the 
neighboring  creeks,  and  on  the  public  square  the  military 
were  burning  the  whiskey  liberty  pole  before  the  court 
house — having  chopped  this  pole  down  and  killed  during 
the  day  two  swaggering  fools  who  presumed  that  the 
soldiers  had  orders  not  to  fire. 

These  deaths,  self-provoked,  cast  upon  the  situation 
and  society  that  awe  in  which  communities  begin  to  realize 
the  existence  of  war. 

In  the  midst  of  that  indescribable  dread  the  governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  with  a  huge  staff,  was  entering  the 
borough  at  the  head  of  three  thousand  men  of  his  own 
line,  and  at  passing  the  headquarters  of  Washington  in 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  151 

the  town,  the  respective  companies  broke  into  cheers  like 
battle-feelings. 

Their  uniforms,  generally  blue  and  hardly  soiled  as  yet 
by  exposure,  were  finer  than  governments  give  their 
soldiery — broadcloth  lined,  slashed  or  striped  with  buff 
and  gold.  The  number  of  cavalry  was  large,  and  their 
steeds,  caparisons,  and  bearing  magnificent — the  horses 
frequently  of  the  same  color  in  whole  companies,  with 
bay  predominant,  and  bridles,  stirrups,  and  martingales 
glittering  with  silver.  As  the  wide  lines  rode  into  Carlisle, 
every  trooper  raised  his  sabre  or  sword  to  Washington, 
and  every  nostril  was  seen  to  expand. 

The  foot  kept  step,  and  their  officers  were  in  many 
cases  from  the  Revolutionary  line — men  who  had  inflicted 
death,  and  by  the  interval  of  peace  looked  back  with  holy 
joy  and  worship  to  their  military  service,  of  which  the 
emblem  was  the  consecrated  nation.  And  now,  amid 
the  booming  and  clashing  of  bands,  the  scream  of  the  fife, 
and  the  terrifying  roll  of  drums,  with  short,  repeated 
orders  shouted  down  the  lines  to  wheel,  or  keep  time,  or 
present,  the  Revolutionary  veterans  and  their  sons  in 
arms  beheld  the  man  they  held  to  be  God's  vicegerent 
and  his  humanity  almost  sacred,  standing  out  in  the  light 
of  torches,  with  Hamilton  and  Bradford  of  his  Cabinet 
behind  him,  and  others  of  mark  also  looking  down  from 
Montgomery's  house,  at  dinner. 

While  Washington  stood  there — oldish,  impersonal, 
passionless — and  the  daylight  faded  away,  the  court 
house  broke  into  illumination,  for  Governor  MifBin  was 
to  make  a  speech. 

A  large  transparency  before  that  plain  forum  of  justice 
bore  the  words  : 

"  Washington  is  ever  Triumphant." 

"  The  Reign  of  the  Laws." 

"  Woe  to  Anarchists." 

As  the  soldiery  were  distributed  for  the  night's  bivouac 
— some  to  the  old  Hessian  prison  quarters  outside  of  the 
town,  some  to  warehouses,  and  some  to  churches — Joe 
Priestley  ran  upon  Mr.  Cooper  and  his  wife,  and  asked 
where  they  were  quartering. 

"  I  presented  Doctor  Priestley's  compliments  to  Doctor 
Nisbet,  president  of  the  college  here,"  replied  Cooper, 


152  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  and  was  invited  to  take  a  room  with  him.  Come  along 
and  I'll  make  bold  to  ask  quarters  for  you." 

The  college  was  a  limestone  house  in  a  narrow  street 
or  alley,  off  the  public  green.  The  old  Scotch  president, 
who  had  been  imported  to  set  up  another  Cambridge  on 
the  frontier  of  the  world,  greeted  Joseph  Priestley  and 
said  : 

"  I  can  put  the  two  ladies  in  one  room  above,  and  you 
two  men  in  a  little  room  on  the  street.  Here,  Master 
Roger  Taney,  go  light  these  friends  to  their  quarters  !  " 

Hamilton  had  been  dining  with  President  Washington, 
and  quarters  had  been  found  for  him  at  a  small  stone 
house  upon  a  street  corner  by  General  Hand,  the  old 
adjutant-general  of  Washington  at  Yorktown. 

"  Hamilton,  I  brought  you  here,"  said  Hand,  "to  save 
you  from  importunity  for  favors  and  rank.  The  town  is 
full  of  camp  followers,  men  and  women,  and  new  whiskey 
may  do  its  work  to-night.  Here  you  will  be  unobserved. 
This  is  the  same  house  where  poor  Major  Andre  and  his 
friend,  Lieutenant  Despard,  were  confined  in  1776,  after 
they  were  captured  in  Canada." 

Hamilton  put  his  portmanteau  down  and  found  himself 
alone. 

"  Andre's  first  prison,"  he  thought,  looking  around. 
"  I  saw  him  in  his  last  prison  ;  I  took  his  last  wishes  ;  I 
saw  him  die.  These  walls  have  echoed  the  voice  whose 
last  appeal  I  shall  never  cease  to  hear  :  *  Must  I,  then,  die 
on  the  gallows  ?  I  am  reconciled  to  my  fate,  but  not  to 
the  mode.'  " 

Hamilton  had  been  taking  wine,  for  the  dinner  was 
made  merry  by  the  wit  of  Judge  Peters  and  old  army 
chords  and  revivals.  Hamilton  had  sung  his  song  of 
"  The  Drum,"  and  relaxed  to  the  gayety  of  the  camp. 

As  he  sat  in  this  small  stone  corner  dwelling,  with  win 
dows  on  two  streets,  he  looked  around  the  plain,  clean 
room,  with  its  one  feather-bed  and  bright-burning  fire, 
and  felt  that  some  society  would  be  preferable  to  sleep. 

His  mind  ran  upon  the  beautiful  bride  of  Arnold,  who 
had  been  also  the  tender  friend  of  Andre,  and  by  her  too 
assiduous  correspondence  laid  the  temptation  for  these 
men  to  communicate  and  then  to  corrupt  each  other.  Ham 
ilton  had  seen  her  with  her  first,  her  bridal  babe,  in  her 
arms,  her  husband  just  fled  and  her  lover  taken  as  a  spy, 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  153 

a  frantic  woman,  countryless,  homeless,  and  compromised 
with  both  armies,  and  he  spoke  aloud  : 

"  Never  did  man  suffer  death  with  more  justice  t..an 
Andre  and  deserve  it  less  !  Even  a  virtuous  woman  may 
pull  down  history  upon  many  men  by  her  too  diffusive 
charms.  The  law  of  safety  is  in  selfishness.  Poor  Mar 
garet  Shippen  !  In  his  last  hours  Andre  told  me  it  was 
love  of  her  which  drew  him  past  the  I  ritish  lines.  How 
love  makes  way  with  honor  !  From  being  adjutant  of 
the  king's  army  he  died  upon  the  criminal's  cord." 

As  he  spoke,  the  door  opened  from  the  street,  as  if  by 
the  autumn  wind,  and  sent  the  fire  sparks  from  the  cheery 
logs  up  the  stone  chimney. 

Hamilton  could  not  see  from  his  bright  interior  against 
the  opaque  night. 

The  door  opened  easily,  slowly,  and  also  mysteriously. 

Hamilton  felt  as  if  the  spirit  of  Margaret  Arnold  might 
have  opened  it,  to  revisit  Andre's  prison  and  himself  wrho 
had  invoked  her. 

There  was  a  something  there  like  the  evasive  outline 
of  a  female. 

He  started  forward,  and  at  the  sill  a  moan  came  out  of 
the  dark  : 

"  Oh  !  shelter  me  ;  take  me  out  of  the  cold  streets  of 
Carlisle  !  " 

He  had  not  time  to  distinguish  the  personage  by  his 
ear  or  mind  when  a  tall  form  in  robes  slipped  past  him 
and  threw  out  its  arms  and  clasped  the  bed  at  the  farther 
part  of  his  room. 

"  A  man  has  pursued  me  all  over  Carlisle.  Two  men, 
I  thought.  And  all  men  I  have  seen  looked  at  me  so 
boldly  I  was  terrified.  Mr.  Joseph  is  intoxicated  and 
has  taken  my  bedroom.  Thank  God,  I  found  you,  Ham 
ilton  !" 

Colonel  Hamilton  closed  the  door. 

Maria  Livingston,  Reynolds,  or  Clingman  was  his 
visitor. 

He  felt  mingled  emotions  sweep  through  him,  and  one 
was  something  like  pleasure. 

Not  the  serious  associations  he  had  invoked  brought 
a  visitant  to  him,  for  rectitude  is  seldom  haunted,  being 
without  ghosts  of  its  own.  But  he  had  almost  wished 
for  society  instead  of  sleep,  and  society  was  here,  in 


154  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

form  not  altogether  unlike  the  wayward  nature  of  his 
wish. 

"  Maria,  how  did  you  find  this  place  ? " 

"  By  fear,"  she  answered.  "  I  thought  I  was  pursued. 
Terror  took  me  to  the  nearest  door,  and  it  is  the  door  of 
compassion — I  hope,  Hamilton,  of  love  !  " 

"  Pursued  here  ?  "  queried  Hamilton,  opening  the  door 
again  and  walking  forth. 

The  night  had  come  down  with  a  frost  and  merciless 
wind,  starless  and  repelling.  Loud  laughter  and  con 
tention  made  the  human  sounds  of  the  perfect  dark, 
broken  by  the  call  of  "  Halt !  "  and  "  Pass  on  !  "  from  un 
seen  sentinels.  Finding  no  skulkers  around  the  Andre 
house,  Hamilton  went  in  and  shook  himself  between  the 
chill  without  and  the  glow  within.  He  lighted  another 
candle  and  put  dry  wood  and  corn-cobs  upon  the  fire. 

"  What  am  I  to  do  with  you,  poor  girl  ?  " 

She  arose  and  walked  to  him  and  seemed  to  suffer 
for  a  moment  as  she  put  her  hand  upon  his  shoulder 
and  glanced  down,  tarrying,  embarrassed. 

"  It  is  midnight,"  continued  Hamilton;  "too  late  for 
me  to  find  quarters  without  much  inconvenience.  And 
you " 

She  raised  her  eyes,  looked  him  in  the  face,  hesitated, 
and  smiled,  and  pushing  him  off  with  her  hand,  stepped 
backward,  and  with  her  hand  behind  her  locked  the 
door. 

"  This  room  is  good  enough  for  me,"  she  spoke  with 
a  twinkle  between  pathos  and  humor.  And  suddenly  a 
flood  of  fervor,  a  flash  of  mischief,  a  giving  way  of  every 
embarrassment  to  a  tender  boldness,  raised  her  spirit  and 
her  stature  up. 

With  hands  lifted  and  arms  stretched  wide  she  im 
pelled  herself  on  Hamilton's  neck  and  clung  there  obsti 
nately. 

"  This  is  my  room,"  she  whispered,  "  because  it  is 
yours.  You  came  to  mine  and  asked  it  from  me.  You 
pleaded  for  that  shelter,  Hamilton.  It  is  too  late  to 
turn  me  out  ;  I  will  not  go  !  " 

Her  head  was  upon  his  shoulder,  heavily,  drowsily. 
He  had  to  support  her  weight,  for  she  was  reckless 
whether  she  fell  or  not. 

Some  demon  whispered  to  him :  "  Now  is  the  time  to 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  155 

annex  this  woman  to  your  interests,  and  by  love.  How 
easy  !  " 

"Two  years  ago  we  separated,  Maria,"  said  Hamil 
ton,  "by  means  you  invented  or  acceded  to.  I  paid  the 
price  demanded  of  my  weakness.  Unlock  the  door,  or 
I  cannot  remain  in  this  chamber  !  " 

"  You  shall  not  leave  it,  sir.  I  will  scream  if  you  wres 
tle  for  this  key  with  me  or  break  the  stout  lock.  Lis 
ten,  my  dear  old  ardent,  violent,  unappeasable  lover  ! 
It  is  nearly  two  years  since  you  have  kissed  me.  Yes, 
all  that  time,  sir  !  I  followed  you  to  Carlisle,  because 
I  knew  you  would  appreciate  me  here,  where  nothing 
but  men  are  found.  Not  to  be  your  tempter  in  the  city 
— only  to  be  your  solace  in  the  lonely  camp,  I  came  be 
cause  I  understood  your  nature,  Hamilton.  Confess  you 
are  glad  I  came  to  you  !  " 

"  The  key  !     I  command  you,  Maria  !  " 

"  Ah  !  no.  If  I  draw  that  bolt  it  will  break  the  spell 
I  feel  I  am  throwing  upon  you,  dear,  hypocritical  truant. 
You  were  so  good,  so  kind  to  me  at  Harrisburg  that  the 
tones  you  spoke  to  me  in  called  me  like  sweet  bells  as 
far  as  Carlisle.  I  said  to  myself,  '  One  day,  or,  perhaps, 
some  days,  of  happiness  I  shall  have  there  with  him — the 
only  man  I  can  ever  love.'  I  called  God  to  confirm  or 
punish  my  honesty,  if  I  loved  you,  O  exquisite  man!  who 
misled  me.  Shall  you,  who  once  pleaded  so  hard  with  me 
for  love,  refuse  to  hear  the  despair  you  have  awakened  ? 
No,  sir;  it  is  my  turn  to  sue.  Are  you  any  better  than  I 
was  when  you  found  me,  and  swore  you  were  my  ad 
mirer  ?" 

She  held  his  frame  in  her  languorous  yet  half-resolute 
hands,  and  looked  at  him  like  one  with  wrongs,  willing  to 
forgive. 

He  felt  the  divine  excellence  of  creation  in  her  stately 
mould  and  kindled  life  as  she  asked  for  justice  between 
moral  offenders.  He  sighed  : 

"  I  am  better  by  chastisement,  I  hope,  my  fellow-sin 
ner.  I  have  paid  the  penalty  of  prodigals  ;  I  have 
eaten  husks.  I  have  seen  my  child  suffer.  My  pride  has 
been  pulled  down.  I  could  not  even  confess  my  shame, 
as  the  good  papists  do.  All  confession,  and  therefore 
all  sympathy,  were  closed  to  me." 

"  You  are  mine,"  breathed  the  woman,  with  a  shaking 


156  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

off  of  her  drowsy  indolence.  "  I  can  hear  your  groans,  I 
can  pardon  your  sins.  No  woman  in  this  world  can  kiss 
your  tears  away  but  I." 

"  I  cannot  confess  myself,"  said  Hamilton,  "  but  wom 
an's  affection  can  see  to  the  bottom  of  a  well  where 
truth  is.  A  woman  has  guessed  my  offence,  and  blessed 
me  with  forgiveness." 

"  Your  wife  ? " 

"  Do  not  speak  that  holy  name  !  " 

"  I  know  the  woman,  then,"  Maria  said.  "  I  am 
American  and  not  to  be  replaced  by  her,  the  English 
lady  who  has  come  between  us.  Sir,  my  blood  is  the  best 
in  the  province  of  New  York.  If  I  have  dragged  the 
Livingston  stock  through  dirty  places,  that  is  still  my 
race.  No  Priestley  blood  is  better,  nor  Schuyler,  nor 
Hamilton." 

She  stood  erect,  yet  easily,  drawing  back  and  looking 
at  him  from  a  skin  more  pale  than  flushed,  her  expression 
that  of  pride's  self-possession. 

It  became  her  better  than  any  look  she  had  ever  worn, 
and  raised  her  higher  in  Hamilton's  regard,  for  he  recog 
nized  that  race  which,  in  public  station  or  personal  force, 
disciplined  or  wanton,  had  been  felt  in  New  York  since 
its  foundation— agile  but  unconquerable,  Scotch  and 
Dutch,  the  marrying  Livingstons. 

Unconsciously  the  temptress  had  led  her  highest  trump. 
It  was  now  a  lady  before  Hamilton,  with  the  delicacy  of 
her  haughtiness  among  the  other  treasures  she  had  to  offer 
him,  and  the  Livingstons  were  his  foes. 

He  felt  the  healthy  warmth  and  exhilaration  of  the  fire, 
and  the  fatigue  of  his  encounter  with  so  various  charms 
and  resources. 

As  the  quality  of  this  renewed  amour  grew  upon  the 
enlarged  experience  and  mentality  of  the  Livingston 
"  black  sheep,"  the  secretary  seemed  contending  against 
fate. 

"  There  is  always  an  appeal,  my  well-derived  friend,"  he 
struggled  to  say,  "  from  one  woman's  cruelty  to  the  court 
and  jury  of  her  whole  sex.  In  the  counsel  of  women  a 
broken  man,  misled  by  strong  temptation,  is  heard,  con 
fessed,  and  shrived.  It  is  not  one  woman  only  who  has 
guessed  us  out,  Mistress  Livingston." 

She  took  his  chair,  there  being  but  one  chair  in  the 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  157 

room,  and  stretched  her  feet  toward  the  fire  with  wounded 
sensibility  upon  her  face,  and  after  an  effort  said  : 

"  I  suppose  I  need  not  be  an  unwelcome  vagrant  seek 
ing  shelter  in  vain  from  my  lover,  even  in  Carlisle. 
Major  Armstrong,  who  is  now  here  visiting  his  father,  the 
general,  and  Doctor  Armstrong,  his  brother,  is  married 
to  my  distant  relative,  Alida  Livingston.  Blood  is  thicker 
than  water,  though  Hamilton  does  not  admit  it.  They 
keep  a  fine  large  house  in  Carlisle.  I  will  go  and  ask 
shelter  there." 

If  this  had  been  artful,  it  deceived  Hamilton.  Spoken 
in  a  chord  nearly  plaintive  but  resisting  the  disposition 
to  give  way  to  grief,  the  words  melted  Hamilton  to  dis 
tress  by  their  helpless  pride. 

He  knelt  at  her  feet. 

"  I  will  not  drive  you  out,"  he  said.  "  Let  me  go  to 
Doctor  Armstrong's  and  tell  him  you  are  here." 

She  wavered,  struggled,  fought  down  a  sob,  and  an 
swered: 

"  Very  well.  I  can  trample  on  my  self-esteem  no 
longer.  I  have  asked  you  nothing  but  what  you  taught 
me.  I  hope  I  am  not  as  worthless  everywhere  as  to 
Hamilton." 

The  tears  came  now  in  a  flood.  Hamilton  caught  the 
weeping  Juno  in  his  arms  and  cried: 

"  O  heaven  !  is  there  no  repentance  but  in  streams 
of  tears  like  these  and  hardness  of  the  heart  to  women's 
groans  ?  What  can  I  do  ?  " 

She  neither  resisted  nor  consented,  but  continued  to 
weep,  and  he  implored  her  pardon  as  the  moments  wore 
on ;  angels  might  have  separated  the  guilty  one  from  the 
better  one,  but  these  two  could  not,  in  the  neutral  light  of 
their  past  transgression.  He  was  already  reasoning  her 
to  be  a  victim  of  circumstances. 

She  appreciated  the  demoralization  that  was  coming 
upon  him,  and  as  he  once  looked  into  her  eyes,  she 
seemed  to  shiver. 

"  Sir,"  she  lisped,  "  my  feet  are  wet.  I  have  walked  in 
the  pools  of  water  and  mud  where  the  soldiers  have  been. 
Will  you  take  off  my  shoe  and  let  me  dry  my  foot  ?  " 

She  stretched  herself  languidly  back.  The  fire  shone 
along  her  elegant  stature,  warming  its  long  proportions  to 
life  like  Pygmalion's  egotism. 


158  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Hamilton  'hesitated. 

"What!"  she  smiled,  heightening  and  bending  for 
ward.  "  Have  you  forgotten  your  courtesy  ?  This  room 
is  more  hospitable  than  you.  How  genial  feels  the  fire, 
Hamilton  !  And  I  am  very  drowsy.  O  soldier,  man ! 
are  you  made  of  stone  ?  I  cannot  kill  you  with  my  little 
foot." 

He  looked  at  her,  and  it  seemed  that  virtue  was  pass 
ing  out  of  him  as  by  the  touch  of  her  foot  and  her  ex 
tended  hand. 

"  Here,"  sighed  Maria,  with  a  laugh,  "take  this  key 
and  let  me  out,  if  you  dare  !  " 

In  the  interval  of  his  irresolution  she  threw  the  key 
into  the  fire  and  herself  into  his  arms. 

Steps,  voices  at  that  instant  drew  near. 

A  knock  of  a  man's  knuckles  fell  upon  the  door. 

"  Who  is  there  ?  "  gasped  Hamilton. 

"It  is  I,  Colonel  Hamilton.  If  you  have  not  retired 
I  will  have  a  word  with  you  :  THE  PRESIDENT  !  " 

The  woman's  lips  turned  pale.  They  shaped  but  did 
not  speak  the  word  : 

"  Washington  !  " 

In  a  moment  she  had  glided  through  a  door  at  the  rear 
of  the  chamber  and  closed  it  behind  her. 

Hamilton  drew  the  key  from  the  ashes,  though  it  blis 
tered  his  fingers,  and  he  opened  the  street  door  to  Gen 
eral  Washington. 

The  President  took  the  chair  and  the  secretary  stood 
before  him  : 

"  I  had  consulted  all  but  you,  Mr.  Hamilton,  and  before 
General  Hand  issues  the  order,  I  thought  it  reasonable 
to  lay  before  you  my  selection  of  Governors,  according 
to  military  rank,  in  this  campaign.  For  commander-in- 
chief,  Henry  Lee." 

"  He  is  warmly  attached  to  you." 

"Second  in  rank,  Governor  Mifflin." 

"  This  leaves  Governor  Howell,  of  New  Jersey,  to  be 
third.  He  is  the  only  Federalist  of  the  three." 

"  I  cannot  put  in  order  the  future.  Howell  is  too  good 
a  soldier  to  take  offence  ;  Mirflin  must  now  act  the  prin 
cipal  part  in  spite  of  himself.  He  is  already  much  elated 
and  will  make  better  speeches  than  ever.  I  hope  I  have 
given  him  a  chance  to  make  his  lasting  peace  with  his- 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  159 

tory,  for  I  would  have  no  man  think  at  my  death  that  I 
had  abbreviated  his  career.  As  for  Lee,  he  is  matchless 
for  discipline,  despatch,  and  decision.  His  self-esteem  is 
great,  but  this  need  not  be  a  mean  quality,  and  gratitude 
and  services  are  cheaply  bought  by  praise.  Governor 
Lee  hardly  expected  this  appointment,  since  Pennsylva 
nia  is  the  seat  of  war." 

"Mr.  President,  your  reasons  are  conclusive." 

"  I  would  like  you,  Colonel  Hamilton,  to  ride  with  me 
on  my  way  to  Cumberland  as  far  as  the  Conococheague 
settlements.  I  am  told  that  you  can  cross  the  mountains 
expeditiously  thence  to  Bedford.  I  want  to  lay  before 
you  the  necessity  of  discipline  in  this  army.  The  Phila- 
delphians  have  killed  one  man,  the  Jersey  troops  another. 
If  this  was  unavoidable,  it  was  also  unfortunate.  Among 
these  Scotch-Irish  the  killing  of  any  man  starts  revenge 
ful  passions.  By  good  treatment  they  will  come  through 
this  purgation  the  greatest  race  in  the  American  family. 
The  proper  thing  to  do,  Mr.  Hamilton,  is  to  make  an 
example  of  the  first  law-breaking  officer  of  this  army.  If 
you  can  hear  of  one,  let  him  not  be  overlooked,  but  pun 
ished." 

"I  will  accompany  you  to  your  quarters,"  said  Ham 
ilton  as  the  President  rose  and  wrapped  his  long  cloak 
about  him. 

"  It  will  be  unnecessary,  as  I  shall  go  at  once  to  bed." 

A  man's  form  was  seen  in  the  dark  alley  as  Hamilton 
passed  it.  When  he  returned  the  form  was  still  there, 
and  the  secretary  laid  hold  of  it  without  roughness. 

"  Let  me  see  your  face,  friend,"  he  said. 

Throwing  open  his  shutter  to  let  the  light  illuminate 
his  prisoner,  Hamilton  saw  a  bruised,  swollen,  fevered 
face,  in  which  he  finally  made  out  the  likeness  of  James 
Reynolds. 

"  A  good  soldier  and  marked  like  this  without  a  bat 
tle,  Mr.  Reynolds  ?  " 

"  That  is  the  handiwork  of  Jake  Clingman,  sir.  As 
he  is  in  Carlisle,  I  thought  of  you  and  that  he  might 
kill  you,  sir.  So  I  came  to  watch  your  house." 

"  How  did  you  learn  my  location  ? " 

"  I  heard  Jake  tell  it  to — to  my  wife,  that  was.  He  keeps 
about  a  sutlery  here,  which  I  reckon  he  has  an  interest  in. 
He  also  keeps  a  gambling  place  near  town,  or  supports  it." 


l6o  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  How  do  you  know  that  ?  " 

"  I  have  been  there,  sir." 

"  Can  you  lead  me  there,  Mr,  Reynolds  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  can,  sir." 

"  Then  sit  in  my  room  till  I  send  for  you.  What  do 
the  Clingman  family  want  of  me  ? " 

"  The  old  trick,  sir  ;  your  money.  That  is  Jake  Cling- 
man's  god.  He  set  Maria  on  you  to-night." 

Hamilton  passed  out,  and  paused  in  the  dark  to  mur 
mur  to  his  horrified  soul: 

"  Almighty  God,  Thou  art  my  preserver  !  Had  Wash 
ington  not  been  sent  by  Thee,  I  had  been  exposed  to 
jealous  Reynolds,  prying  upon  his  wife  at  my  window 
shutter.  And  she,  who  could  play  the  injured  lady  to 
perfection,  was  on  Clingman's  errand  to  lay  me  low 
again!  " 

He  thought  of  Reynolds'  information,  and  a  calm  de 
cision  came  to  his  mind. 

"  It  will  never  do  to  treat  my  private  injuries  as  pub 
lic  offences.  Neither  will  it  do  to  let  public  offences 
pass  because  of  private  delicacy.  '  Make  an  example  of 
him,'  said  Washington.  '  Let  him  be  punished.'  ' 

In  a  few  minutes  a  small  body  of  cavalry  was  before 
the  Andre  house,  with  a  saddled  horse  for  Reynolds. 

"  Go  show  these  dragoons  the  place  where  gaming  is 
done,  Mr.  Reynolds,"  commanded  Hamilton,  locking  his 
door  and  going  to  bed. 

North  of  Carlisle,  on  the  banks  of  the  Conedogwi- 
nit  Creek,  was  a  cave  with  an  arched  portal  of  nearly 
perfect  curve,  and  not  far  within  stretched  out  a  low 
chamber  of  limestone  of  considerable  depth,  where 
the  army  gamblers  had  been  in  secret  possession  all 
day. 

A  fire  lighted  within  took  away  the  dampness,  while 
the  cavity  concealed  the  blaze.  Here  Clingman's  asso 
ciates  had  set  up  their  machines  of  hazard  to  get  from 
the  city  soldiery  the  money  with  which  they  had  started 
for  the  long  march  of  two  hundred  miles  westward  from 
Carlisle. 

Mr.  Reynolds  was  sent  in  with  two  or  three  dragoons  to 
supply  evidence  of  the  infraction  of  army  law  to  the  pro 
vost  marshal. 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  l6l 

Reynolds  at  once  began  to  play,  and  such  was  his  in 
fatuation  for  gambling  that  when  the  signal  was  given 
and  the  cavalry  entered  and  made  prisoners  of  all  pres 
ent,  Mr.  Reynolds  had  totally  forgotten  that  they  were 
near,  and  had  lost  every  cent  he  possessed. 

Mrs.  Reynolds,  on  leaving  Hamilton,  had  glided  off 
with  anger  and  recklessness  to  the  man  whose  marriage- 
tie  she  wore. 

He  was  counting  his  money  at  a  shop  or  booth  down 
toward  the  little  stream  called  Le  Tort,  which  ran  through 
Carlisle  and  supplied  a  distillery  that  Mr.  Clingman's 
combination  had  leased  for  the  campaign. 

Clingman  threw  his  arms  around  Maria,  his  wife,  and 
found  her  not  indisposed  to  his  attentions. 

"  Ducky,  did  you  blackmail  Hamilton  ? "  he  gurgled, 
with  eyes  darting  like  talons  revealed  by  the  yellow  glit 
ter  of  a  heap  of  money  before  him. 

4<  No,  Jake.  I  had  almost  conquered  when  Washing 
ton  came  and  scared  me  away.  But  I  will  not  give  him 
up." 

She  swore  an  oath,  the  first  evidence  of  the  pollution 
of  the  soul  in  the  false  woman's  progress.  It  made 
Clingman  rejoice  that  she  was  coming  nearer  to  his 
earthy  foundation. 

"  Yes,  cuss  him,  Mari  !  It  will  do  you  good.  Damn 
him,  too,  for  a-refusin'  charms  that  makes  J.  Clingman 
pray  in  vain.  Wifey,  this  is  the  home,  the  humble-bee, 
the  busy-bee  home  of  J.  Clingman  and  his  Mari.  Ain't 
it  your'n  to-night  ? " 

"  You  can't  kneel  like  Hamilton,  Jake.  Get  up  !  How 
much  am  I  to  get  of  that  plunder  ?  I  must  have 
clothes." 

"All  you  want,  Mari.  The  sutler  store  runs  like  a 
quarter  hoss.  I've  sent  a  hundred  men  to-day  out  to  the 
faro-bank  an'  snapper-wheel.  Take  all  you  want,  for  a 
hunderd  days  of  glory  and  loot  is  before  J.  C.  in  this 
campaign." 

"  I'll  take  what  I  want  in  the  morning.  Leave  it 
there." 

At  early  morning  Mrs.  Clingman  softly  arose,  took  all 
Mr.    Clingman's  money  in   his  bandanna    handkerchief, 
ii 


162  MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

and  fled  away  to  the  little  Dickinson  academy  of  a  col 
lege  in  the  alley. 

There  she  saw  in  the  downstairs  room  Joe  Priestley 
fast  asleep,  his  solitary  condition  and  pilgrimage  on  foot 
having  been  the  cause  of  many  hot  whiskeys  the  night 
before. 

Mrs.  Reynolds  looked  at  him  with  dislike  and  mutiny. 

"  He  may  never  get  drunk  again,"  she  thought,  "any 
more  than  Cassio,  in  the  play.  He  has  kept  me  out  all 
night  and  does  not  know  it.  Why  can't  I  get  in  my  own 
bed  ?  " 

The  light  was  coming  up  in  the  west.  The  reveille 
began  to  sound  in  the  town's  environs. 

"  Hamilton  may  insult  my  advances  of  love,"  mused 
the  parasite  woman,  "  but  I  shall  punish  this  dolt  for  his 
indifference.  For  him  alone  I  would  not  take  the  trou 
ble,  but  his  wife  is  Hamilton's  guardian  angel,  who 
*  blesses  him  with  forgiveness  '  for  my  transgressions. 
Mrs.  Priestley  '  can  see  to  the  bottom  of  a  well  where 
truth  is.'  Now,  let  her  try  !  " 

She  stretched  herself  upon  the  outer  edge  of  the  bed 
with  so  little  compunction  that  she  went  almost  imme 
diately  to  sleep. 

The  morning  was  well  advanced,  and  the  smell  of 
many  breakfasts  took  the  chill  from  the  frost  when 
Joseph  Priestley  was  awakened  by  Mr.  Cooper  putting 
cold  water  on  his  head. 

"  I  say,  Josie,  arise  !     These  be   odd  capers  for  thee." 

Poor  Joe.  with  a  throbbing  head  and  hot  coppers,  fol 
lowed  Cooper's  eyes  to  where  the  mould  of  Reynolds  lay, 
still  sleeping  fast. 

"I  don't  remember  anything  that  took  place  last 
night,"  muttered  Joe.  "  I  can't  remember  going  to  bed 
—nothing  whatever." 

"  If  appearances  will  convict  you,  Joe,"  said  Cooper, 
with  a  dry  sneer  from  virtue's  depths,  "  you  are  a 
divorced  man.  I  wouldn't  have  believed  it." 

Mrs.  Reynolds  opened  her  eyes,  gave  a  little  nervous 
scream,  and  covered  her  head  with  whatever  clothing 
came  to  hand  to  conceal  her  mischief. 

"  Joseph  has  a  wife,  Mr.  Cooper,"  she  vouchsafed  from 
this  retreat.  "  Oh  !  pray  bestow  no  misery  there." 


MRS.-REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  163 

Joe  Priestley  looked  more  blank  than  sad. 

"Well,"  said  he,  finally,  "I  can  affirm^  that  I  was  in 
my  cups.  But  nothing  whatever  can  I  deny." 

At  reveille  Lieutenant  Clingman  awoke.  He  looked 
beside  him  and  around  him. 

Wife  and  money  were  gone. 

"  Mari  !  "  he  cried.  "She  has  indeed  taken  what  she 
wanted,  and  it  is  my  all." 

"  Turn  out  !  turn  out !  "  called  the  guard.  "  This 
battalion  is  ordered  to  march  three  miles  before  break 
fast.  The  order  from  Colonel  Hamilton  is  that  any 
officer  tardy,  absent,  or  loitering  is  to  be  put  in  irons. 
Forward  to  your  platoon,  Clingman  !  " 

"Go  forward,  Jake  !"  a  co-partner  whispered.  ."The 
speiling  was  pulled  last  night.  Your  poncess  has  mizzled. 
Reynolds  was  the  stall." 

The  music  of  the  march  resounded  : 

"  Forward,  march  !  " 

"  Death  and  hell  !  "  muttered  Clingman.  "  I'll  live  to 
settle  with  them  all." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

JAKE    CLINGMAN    DRUMMED    OUT. 

WAR  cures  broken  hearts,  and  Bobby  Lewis  saw  so 
many  pretty  girls  as  he  rode  down  the  valley  with  his 
fortunate  brother,  Larry — through  Shippensburg,  where 
the  army  turned  off,  and  through  Chambersburg  and 
the  Conococheague  settlements — that  he  told  Mr.  Lear 
and  his  uncle  Washington  he  meant  to  cross  the  moun 
tains  and  take  a  wife  and  farm. 

The  President  now  proceeded  to  Cumberland,  while 
Hamilton  and  a  few  mounted  friends  moved  out  from 
the  Welsh  settlement  to  pass  the  great  Tuscarora  Moun 
tain  by  a  trail.  The  mighty  mass  of  rock  and  woods 
seemed  to  open  as  they  approached  like  a  gray  cloud, 
and  showed  a  cove  that  had  a  low  gate  cut  by  a  brook, 
and  beyond  this  opening  seemed  nothing  but  a  deep, 
round  bowl  of  forest  and  rampart,  sublime  and  serene. 
Yet  within  the  cove  a  little  way  they  came  to  a  "store" 
or  settler's  shop,  of  stones  and  logs,  and  found  some 


164  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

pack-horses  loading  with  supplies  for  the  Monongahela. 
Within  the  Irish  trader's  cot  the  gentlemen  took  some  of 
the  cove  whiskey  and  a  snack  of  venison. 

"  If  I  had  my  Eliza  here,"  said  Hamilton  to  the  young 
trader's  wife,  "I  should  be  the  happiest  settler  in  this 
cove.  What  is  this  little  fellow's  name  ? " 

"  James — James  Buchanan,  sir,"  replied  the  young 
mother,  giving  her  child  to  the  secretary. 

"  May  the  United  States  last  after  Jamie  is  its  Presi 
dent,  madame!" 

Out  of  the  cove,  like  motes  ascending  within  a  blue 
bell,  the  travellers  wound,  and  gaining  the  summit  after 
miles,  looked  over  upon  a  small  valley  like  a  grave,  posied 
with  new-broken  farms,  and  pebbled  by  a  small,  new 
hamlet. 

Down  the  mountain,  up  the  next  one,  down  the  next 
and  over  others,  the  party  went  along  in  forests  illim 
itable,  till  they  found  the  army  the  second  day,  toiling 
up  the  heights  and  wondering  at  the  profusion  of  moun 
tains,  also  marching  like  themselves  upon  converging 
lines  through  stars  and  storms.  But  the  human  army 
seemed  hardly  a  caterpillar,  dwarfed  by  the  Nature  it  had 
entered  on.  The  few  settlers,  however,  were  sickly  crea 
tures  compared  to  the  soldiery,  who  were  only  worn  with 
unaccustomed  marching. 

Hamilton's  soul  thrilled  with  the  soft  yet  sacred  scenery, 
which  seemed  to  his  chastened  spirit  the  revealment  of 
God's  mercy  and  majesty — stupendous  as  the  meaning, 
"  I  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  before  the  mountains 
were  settled,  *  *  and  my  delights  were  with  the  sons 
of  men." 

The  predestinarian  in  his  Scotch  type  carried  his 
imagination  no  farther  than  the  Scriptures  and  belief, 
and  out  of  this  faith  came  his  love  of  fond  authority 
on  earth  and  love  of  raising  altars  of  institutions  instead 
of  playing  the  worshipper  like  Cain,  razing  his  brother's 
altar. 

"  God  bless  Pennsylvania,  gentlemen  !  "  exclaimed  the 
constructive  soul  of  Hamilton  as  he  came  to  the  Juniata 
crossings.  "  Though  she  slay  us,  yet  will  we  praise  her." 

He  saw  the  Little  Juniata  sweep  the  mountain's  base 
and  hug  the  mountain's  ribs  and  the  mountain  promon 
tory,  like  that  vast  galley  stranded  on  Ararat,  feeling  the 


MRS.   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  165 

Deluge  subside  in  the  gentle  stream  that  flowed  about  its 
beak. 

There,  in  the  night,  Hamilton  lay  in  a  log  tavern,  with 
the  witty  Judge  Peters  and  a  fellow  West-Indian  from 
Jamaica,  named  Dallas,  who  had  here  escaped  from  the 
political  contaminations  of  Mifflin's  group.  All  three 
were  joyous  natures,  and  in  the  rare,  cold  air  blowing 
through  the  chinks  they  lay  and  laughed  at  repartees  and 
listened  to  the  passing  wagons  and  fed  their  green-wood 
lire  till  nothing  was  heard  at  last  but  the  Juniata  mut 
tering  underneath  as  to  the  meaning  of  those  camp-fires 
burnishing  its  rapids. 

All  was  still. 

The  man  from  Jamaica  saw  a  shadow  from  the  fire 
strike  upon  the  naked  wall  to  which  his  face  was  turned; 
he  did  not  move,  but  watched  this  mysterious  shadow  in 
the  late  chamber  of  mirth  and  anecdote.  It  was  that  of 
one  in  prayer,  with  hands  raised  and  head  uplifted.  Not 
a  sound  was  heard  but  the  softest  sigh. 

The  tall  Scotch  head,  the  Roman  nose,  the  well-pro 
duced  and  already  historic  jaws  and  chin,  described  that 
shadow's  original  to  be  the  man  from  Nevis,  the  hated 
opponent  of  his  faction,  Hamilton. 

Both  these  men  were  Scotch  West-Indians.  The/r^- 
tige  of  Hamilton  had  already  softened  Dallas'  prejudice 
when  it  so  youthfully  relaxed  to  fun  and  fellowship. 

'•  That  is  my  enemy,"  thought  Dallas,  still  as  sleep,  but 
thrilled  in  all  his  Scottish  type.  "  Let  me  pray,  too,  from 
that  example.  *  God  bless  Mr.  Hamilton  !  '  ' 

Twenty-one  years  were  to  pass  before  Dallas  was  to 
become  a  successor  of  Hamilton  as  the  Finance  Minister. 
He  found  the  finances,  taxation,  the  public  morale,  every 
thing  deranged  and  almost  destroyed  by  fourteen  years  of 
Jefferson's  prejudices  applied  to  the  state.  The  capitol, 
the  President's  house,  lay  in  ashes,  burned  by  the  foreign 
enemy. 

The  new  secretary  felt  it  hard  to  tear  himself  away 
from  the  illusions  of  party,  but  reason  pointed  the  only 
way  —  increased,  candid  taxation ;  a  tariff,  a  national 
bank. 

"  Dare  I  recommend  these  things  we  have  rejected 
with  their  author's  fame  ?  "  Dallas  thought. 


l66  MRS.  REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Then  he  saw  the  shadow  of  a  head  long  since  given  to 
the  worms — a  tall,  Scotch  head  and  Roman  nose  and 
martial  profile,  in  the  act  of  prayer. 

u  Back,  back  to  Hamilton  !  "  exclaimed  Secretary  Dal 
las,  seizing  his  pen.  "  I  say  again  my  mountain  prayer  : 
<  God  bless  him  !  '  " 

And  yet,  so  close  together^  lie  the  godlike  and  the 
human,  that  Hamilton's  prayer  that  night  had  been  for 
his  wife's  pity  and  forgiveness. 

They  came  to  Bedford  next  day,  occupying  a  level 
shelf  above  the  Juniata,  where  once  had  stood  an  old 
Indian  stockade  ;  some  stone  and  log  houses  around  a 
court-house  now,  and  two  hundred  residents,  and  the 
great  army  encamped  upon  its  all-surrounding  hill-sides, 
in  lines  of  fleecy  tents  by  day  and  golden  fire  by  night, 
lighting  up  the  great  ox-backed  mountains,  while  the  rare 
air  bore  the  strains  of  music  to  the  stars  that  spread  above 
like  the  field  in  the  floating  ensign  at  each  headquarters, 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania. 

The  old  Jersey  governor  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier 
who  had  made  a  song  that  was  thought  very  fine,  and  his 
band  played  it  several  times  a  day,  as  follows  : 

To  arms  once  more  !  our  hero  cries; 
Sedition  lives  and  order  dies  ; 
To  peace  and  ease  then  bid  adieu, 
And  dash  to  the  mountains,  Jersey  Blue. 

CHORUS  :     Dash  to  the  mountains,  Jersey  Blue, 

Jersey  Blue,  Jersey  Blue, 
And  dash  to  the  mountains,  Jersey  Blue. 

Pennsylvania  had  no  song,  nor  was  there  any  national 
song,  and  Hamilton  was  not  a  poet.  However,  with  some 
assistance,  to  gratify  the  Pennsylvania  boys,  he  sang  them, 
to  an  accompaniment  of  flute,  fife,  and  drum,  his  old 
Revolutionary  air : 

THE  DRUM. 

Hear  the  gentle  sheep  soft  bleat, 

"  Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah," 
As  they  wheel  like  soldiers'  feet 

Ra-ta-tah,  ra-ta-tah. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  167 

Like  their  gentle  souls  we  come, 

Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah, 
And  the  sheepskin  makes  our  drum  : 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 


Hear  the  lover  softly  sigh — 
"Ba-a-ah,  ba  a-ah  " — 
For  his  love  he'll  march  and  die, 

Ra-ta-tah  !  ra-ta-tah  ! 
Helpless  hands  do  overcome — 

Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah — 

Like  the  fingers  on  the  drum  : 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 


Hear  the  little  children  weep, 

"Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah," 
Like  the  tender  little  sheep — 

Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah. 
But  their  terrors  rouse  the  dumb 

Ra-ta-tah  !  ra-ta-tah  ! 
And  their  sob  is  in  the  drum: 
Ra-ta  tah  ! 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 


Do  you  see  this  harmless  flock— 

Ba-a-ah,   ba-a-ah — 
Filing  up  the  mountain  rock  ? 

Ra-ta-tah  !  ra-ta-tah  ! 
There  is  nothing  quarrelsome, 

Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah, 
In  the  bleating  of  our  drum  : 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 


We  are  only  clad  in  wool, 

Ba-a-ah,  ba-a  ah; 
We  are  marching  in  from  school, 

Ra-ta-tah  !  ra-ta-tah  ! 
And  the  lesson  that  we  hum — 

Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah — 

You  shall  hear  upon  the  drum : 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 


l68  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

If  the  wolf  is  in  these  hills — 

Ba-a  ah,  ba-a-ah — 
'Tis  the  fife  the  wolf  that  thrills  : 

Ra-ta-tah  !  ra-ta-tah  ! 
'Tis  a  little  drummer's  thumb, 

Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-ah, 

Thrills  the  sheepskin  to  a  drum  : 

Ra  ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 

Ra-ta-tah  ! 


Can  that  be  Columbia's  cry  ? 

"Ba-a-ah,  ba-a-Sh." 
Forward,  march  !  For  she  may  die  : 

Ra-ta-tah  !  ra-ta-tah  ! 
Dear  mother,  straight  we  come, 

Ra-ta-tah  !  ra-ta-tah  ! 
'Tis  your  sons  with  fife  and  drum — 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 
Ra-ta-tah  ! 

President  Washington  and  Governor  Lee  arrived  at 
Bedford  from  Cumberland  the  twentieth  of  October. 
Four  dragoons  were  the  President's  only  escort.  In 
stead  of  the  magnificence  which  attended  the  mighty 
Mifflin's  movements,  fifteen  guns  welcomed  the  Presi 
dent,  and  all  the  camps  cheered,  and  straightway  busi 
ness  began. 

Philadelphia  troops  were  despatched  into  the  sur 
rounding  country  for  offenders,  and  brought  in  thirteen 
miserable  objects,  who  had  been  locally  greater  than 
Washington.  As  these  "  leaders  of  the  people  "  rode  on 
their  forest-fed  ponies  through  the  army,  each  preceded, 
flanked,  and  followed  by  a  trooper  of  noble  air  and 
knightly  uniform,  the  militia  looked  on  in  astonishment 
that  these  degraded  beings  had  caused  the  State  such 
expense. 

Lieutenant  Jake  Clingman  began  to  feel  very  uneasy 
as  his  sutler's  operations  were  put  to  an  end.  Not  a 
sutler  was  now  allowed  in  the  army,  which  was  attended 
by  seven  hundred  wagons,  the  government  doing  its  own 
feeding. 

So  Clingman  contemplated  a  little  well-sheltered  gam 
bling,  but  his  attention  was  arrested  by  this  order,  signed 
by  General  Lee  : 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  16*9 

PROCLAMA  TIOX. 

"  To  the  above  parental  counsel  of  our  beloved  Chief  Magistrate, 
the  commander  begs  leave  to  add  the  flattering  hopes  he  entertains  that 
the  conduct  of  the  army  will  justify  the  favorable  anticipation  formed 
of  it.  Thus  shall -we  establish  to  ourselves  a  character  the  most  amiable 
and  exhibit  to  posterity  a  model  to  all  future  armies. 

"  Lest,  however,  some  individual  may  have  crept  into  the  ranks,  cal 
lous  to  all  tkc  feelings  of  honor,  of  virtue,  and  consequently  the  fair 
character  so  justly  dut  to  the  great  body  of  the  troops  may  be  snatched 
from  them  by  the  licentiousness  of  the  few,  the  commandants  of  divi- 
sions,  brigades,  regiments,  and  corps  are  required  to  examine  minutely 
thtir  respective  troops  before  the  army  moves,  and  dismiss  all  whom 
they  deem  iinworthy  of  participating  in  the  honorable  service  in  which 
we  have  embarked" 

Mr.  Clingman  at  once  undertook  to  desert,  but  it 
strangely  happened  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
met  him,  and  without  further  notice  gave  him  a  reading 
look  which  frightened  him  back  to  his  camp. 

"  Durn  that  villain  !  "  was  Mr.  Clingman's  reflection. 
"  I  reckon  he'll  have  me  drummed  out  of  camp."  Then, 
considerately,  "  No,  I  wisht  he  would.  But  he  won't. 
Fur  I  have  a  proclamation  of  my  own  in  that  ewent, 
signed  J.  Clingman,  wolunteer,  and  his  Mari." 

The  oath  Lieutenant  Clingman  uttered  at  the  name  of 
his  Mari  was  too  extravagant  to  be  entirely  printed. 

"  Let  wengeance  fall  upon  that  fickle  roe  !  "  he  called. 
<:  Let  hell  horn-swaggle  her  !  How  tender  I  have  been  ! 
And  how  indulgent  !  She's  played  me  the  shakedown, 
the  tetch  crib,  the  ordinary,  femiliar,  redickelus  panel 
foolery,  fit  for  infants  an'  collegians.  Me,  that's  fetched 
her  up  from  childhood  fur  a  great  career  and  downed  my 
belchins  of  jealousy  like  a  noble  mind  !  My  genius," 
added  Mr.  Clingman,  weeping,  "  has  been  insulted  by  this 
high-steppin'  New  York  Yankee  star-gazer.  What  kin  I 
do?" 

As  he  reflected,  with  somewhat  sincere  sensibilities 
aroused,  he  saw  glancing  at  him  in  the  streets  of  Bedford, 
the  second  husband,  Reynolds. 

"  I've  got  it  !  "  muttered  Clingman  ;  "she  wants  that 
feller  killed.  I  won't  leave  the  army  ;  I'll  go  ahead, 
though  thar's  but  one  road  back,  unless  I  escape  down 
the  Ohier  River.  My  gun'll  go  off  in  these  yer  mountains 
some  time  before  we  git  to  Pittsburgh." 

The  news  from  the  West  at  the  main  seat  of  rebellion,  a 


1 70  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

hundred  miles  away,  was  so  assuring  that  President 
Washington  returned  to  his  capital,  while  Hamilton  ac 
companied  the  army. 

The  marching  out  of  Bedford  was  for  that  period  mag 
nificent,  as  the  small  organizations  composing  the  wing 
wore  their  own  selection  of  uniforms,  modelled  upon 
everything  contemporary  and  traditional — Prussian  bear 
hats,  mediaeval  helmets,  thigh  boots,  French  chasseur  leg 
gings,  Continental  uniforms. 

There  were  twelve  hundred  cavalry  and  seven  thou 
sand  of  other  arms;  artillery  plentiful,  trains  heretofore 
unequalled  in  American  wars;  and  the  route  was  an  old 
and  narrow  military  road  cut  nearly  forty  years  before, 
which  stretched  the  line  out  many  miles. 

Before  went  the  pioneers  to  take  off  fallen  trees  ;  the 
Quartermaster's  men  were  corduroying  and  filling  hollow 
places.  In  the  solemn  shades  the  music  of  cities  and 
civilization  dismayed  and  held  spell-bound  the  savage 
beasts.  Many  a  rattlesnake  disputed  the  way  to  bite 
himself  and  die. 

As  they  left  below  the  sources  of  Eastern  rivers  and 
climbed  the  amazing  grade  of  the  Backbone  or  main 
mountain,  many  a  soldier  thought  of  Braddock's  march 
to  be  massacred  upon  that  parallel  road,  where  now  the 
Left  wing,  five  thousand  strong,  was  also  moving,  yet  a 
week's  distance  from  mutual  relief  with  this  Right  wing. 

The  solemnity  of  the  march  soon  gave  way  to  a  nearly 
universal  exhaustion.  Green  muscles,  tender  feet,  were 
strained  and  bruised  by  the  unusual  toil,  and  backs  and 
hearts  suffered  from  carrying  burdens,  while  the  rare  air 
made  the  lungs  pant,  and  disabled  men  were  often  seen 
at  the  wayside  livid  as  death.  Yet  even  in  this  ghastli- 
ness  one  could  mark  their  terror  of  being  left  behind  to 
spend  the  night  in  the  tall,  tawny  forest,  which  stretched 
like  the  billows  of  the  sea  before  the  mariners  of  Colum 
bus  westward  and  ever  westward. 

Water  gave  out ;  the  dry,  baked  mountain,  pulverized 
beneath  hoofs,  wheels,  and  feet,  seemed  to  yield  no 
springs,  or  those  which  flowed  were  sucked  dry  by  this 
unexpected  progeny  of  men.  Some,  who  read  the  little 
science  that  was  known,  thought  with  bitter  mockery  upon 
the  great  Doctor  Priestley's  assertion  that  vegetable  and 
human  life  exactly  supported  each  other  by  exchanging 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  1 71 

oxygen  and  carbon.  u  Why  not  water  here,  then,  in  pro 
portion  to  our  numbers  ?"  was  the  challenge. 

Alas  !  man's  overcrowding  breaks  nature's  providence 
everywhere,  in  war  or  cities,  and  in  that  day  not  one,  how 
ever  superior  in  education,  who  clambered  up  the  last 
terrace  of  the  Alleghany  chain,  knew  the  first  principle 
of  geology.  To  the  most  knowing  all  these  rocks  were 
mere  menstruum,  or  chaotic  fluid  hardened,  some  thought 
by  fire  and  some  by  water ;  and  in  proportion  to  their 
speculative  ignorance  the  children  in  science  were  the 
more  positive  and  intolerant. 

But  there  was  one  sound  among  those  rock  ribs  no  so 
lemnity  of  suggestion  or  scenery  could  appall — the  sound 
that  has  come  down  the  world  as  long  and  as  old  as 
the  nations,  before  Babel  was  built  or  the  Sphinx  pro 
pounded — the  hearty,  the  wholesome,  the  lurid,  and  indi 
vidual  swearing  of  the  teamster  damning  his  team. 

At  that  almost  innocent,  unpremeditated,  and  perfect 
concession  to  the  fact  of  a  Creator  and  the  advisability  of 
a  hell,  the  tired  army  stopped  to  laugh,  the  Titans  in  the 
clouds  appeared  to  hold  their  sides,  and  in  the  pauses  of 
the  cursing  was  heard  the  Diogenes  of  a  crow  flying  over 
head  and  getting  in  his  word  of  "  Caw  !  caw  !  " 

The  monstrous  shades  opened  at  the  mountain  summits, 
where  some  poet  among  the  pioneers  had  ordered  a  clear 
ing  to  be  cut,  and  the  standards  of  the  commands  as  they 
successively  arrived  were  there  unfurled  amidst  cheers 
and  the  reverberation  of  cannon,  which  seemed  to  roll 
over  that  illimitable  sea  of  mountains  without  homes  like 
the  voice  of  the  lonely  Creator  on  the  earth  before  he  had 
made  man. 

While  these  guns  were  thundering,  the  woods  were  being 
felled  at  old  Presqu'ile,  the  future  Erie  City,  for  the  first 
time,  and  no  American  town  existed  on  the  Great  Lakes. 
Oswego  was  still  in  British  hands,  held  till  the  Americans 
should  fulfil  their  treaty  conditions.  Pittsburgh  and  a  few 
forts  down  the  Ohio  comprised  the  civic  world  beyond 
the  Alleghanies. 

West  of  the  Alleghany  Backbone  the  army  entered  upon 
the  pleasant  sour  lands  called  the  Glades — mountain-top 
pastures  wThere  streams  without  purpose  wandered  like 
truant  children  till  the  old  schoolmaster  of  gravity  should 
determine  in  what  class  to  place  them — whether  to  send 


172  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

them  to  the  Alleghany,  the  Monongahela,  or  the  Poto 
mac. 

Between  the  Backbone  and  the  Laurel  ridges  this  fine, 
pure  land  was  stretched  like  an  Indian  blanket,  and  the 
bells  of  cows  were  heard  tinkling  that  night  as  the  sol 
diery  dropped  down  to  sleep,  not  waiting  for  their  mat 
tresses  to  be  filled  with  straw  ;  but  these  cows  were  safer 
than  if  the  Gladers  alone  heard  the  advisement  of  their 
bells,  for  discipline  had  extended  across  the  mountains, 
and  these  seemed  to  be  the  first  timid  bells  of  law  tinkling 
that  government  had  come. 

The  army,  since  leaving  Bedford,  had  set  its  pickets 
with  all  the  care  of  an  invading  minority  in  a  hostile 
land.  The  little  town  of  Bedford,  behind  them,  was  the 
lawful  capital  of  these  great  glades,  in  whose  midst  was 
a  settlement  where  leading  malcontents  harbored,  and 
there  was  an  apprehension  of  some  semi-savage  surprise 
of  the  army  by  night  which  might  be  magnified  in  the 
East  by  the  faction  there  and  turned  to  the  government's 
ridicule. 

Hamilton's  highest  passion  was  for  military  life.  He 
had  bent  himself  toward  the  sciences  of  finance  and  pro 
duction  in  pains  and  toil ;  but  that  union  of  civil  wisdom 
and  commandership  provided  for  in  the  American  execu 
tive  had  its  preferential  part,  for  him,  in  the  command. 

Public  science  had  brought  him  care  and  enemies  ;  war 
was  the  science  of  his  heart.  He  moved  through  the 
camps,  and  took  the  disposition  of  the  army. 

That  night,  upon  the  golden  glades  whose  poppies 
seemed  to  flower  in  the  perfect  stars,  he  made  the  rounds, 
provided  with  the  countersign,  to  see  that  no  man  slept 
upon  his  post. 

It  was  long  after  midnight  ;  the  lines  facing  westward, 
where  the  enemy  was  expected,  were  stretched  along  a 
mountain  creek  fresh  from  the  water  pressure  of  that 
great  trunk  of  primal  stone  which  rode  through  the  depths 
of  night  like  a  stately  barge. 

The  small-sized,  sure-footed  Hamilton  stole  his  way 
from  man  to  man  like  a  light  puma  for  his  prey,  giving 
the  word,  which  was  "  Harry  Lee,"  soft  as  a  whisper. 

He  desired  to  test  the  soldier  capacity  of  the  young 
generation  and  their  sense  of  duty,  for  his  mind  was 
filled  with  ideas  of  campaigns  :  Miranda  had  been  im- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  173 

ploring  him  to  break  the  Spanish  chain  which  stretched 
across  these  waters  from  the  Pennsylvania  glades  to  the 
far  southern  citadel  of  New  Orleans. 

Hamilton  came  to  a  break  in  the  sentries;  no  challenge 
arrested  him  ;  no  voice  called  "  Who  comes  there  ?  " 

The  secretary  looked  round  and  about,  and  at  last  he 
saw  reflected  in  the  stream  the  bright  sheen  of  a  musket, 
to  which  he  picked  his  path. 

It  was  leaning  against  a  tree,  beneath  which  stretched 
the  picket's  form,  so  deep  in  sleep  that  Hamilton  could 
hardly  rouse  him. 

"  Asleep  upon  your  post,  my  friend  ?  For  shame ! 
The  consequence  is  death." 

"  I  know  that,"  spoke  the  defaulter.       "  I  welcome  it." 

"  Why,  sir  ?  " 

"I  have  no  wife  ;  she  has  rejected  me  forever." 

Hamilton  heard,  and  his  heart  was  disturbed  like  the 
culprit's. 

"  Is  that  your  only  excuse  ?  Discipline  can  recognize 
no  private  grief,  my  boy.  I  perceive  that  you  are  young." 

"  Sir,  I  have  been  worn  out  with  this  heavy  march. 
All  my  spirits  were  gone  when  I  left  Carlisle — where  I 
saw  her.  I  persevered  and  did  my  best,  but  this  last  big 
mountain  broke  me  down." 

"  Give  me  your  musket,"  whispered  Hamilton  in  com 
miseration.  u  I  will  mount  guard  for  you  awhile  and  let 
you  sleep." 

The  boy  dropped  off,  indifferent  to  death,  so  that 
Master  Nature  had  his  fill. 

Hamilton  took  the  musket  and  paced  back  and  forth, 
seeing  now  and  then  the  gleam  of  the  reciprocal  patrols 
on  other  sides.  This  had  continued  till  his  walk  became 
purely  mechanical,  and  he  took  no  note  of  the  owl's  hoot 
or  the  wolf's  distant  bark.  His  thoughts  were  upon  the 
course  of  empire,  the  providence  of  God,  and  the  necessity 
of  woman's  love. 

He  was  roused  from  his  reverie  by  the  muffled  cry  of 
"  Halt  !  "  as  if  spoken  through  a  sleeve  or  glove. 

"  Halt,  you  !  "  replied  Hamilton,  peering  through  the 
shades. 

"  Is  it  Jim  Reynolds  ?  "  asked  the  other  voice. 

"Yes." 

The  reply  was  a  musket's  discharge  a  few  paces  before, 


174  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

and  a  ball  whistled  past  Hamilton's  head.  It  seemed  to 
cut  his  hair. 

Prompt  as  in  old  days,  when  he  put  his  company 
through  the  manual,  Hamilton  raised  his  long  flint-lock 
and  drew  the  trigger,  aiming  at  the  sound. 

A  voice  with  no  disguise  uttered  a  groan  and  then  an 
oath. 

The  two  shots  awoke  the  refreshed  delinquent. 

"  Take  your  musket,  Reynolds.    That  is  your  name  ?  " 

"  Yes.     God  be  thanked,  it's  Mr.  Hamilton  !  " 

"  Some  one  yonder  has  fired  at  you,  or  at  me.  Take 
your  place,  your  gun  at  ready,  and  see  whom  it  is." 

In  a  moment  Reynolds  returned,  and  whispered  with  a 
voice  which  revealed  the  hate  and  almost  the  pallor  of 
his  face  : 

"  Colonel  Hamilton,  it's  that  Jake  Clingman.  He  is  the 
officer  of  the  day,  and  stood  me  here  on  picket.  Some 
body  has  shot  him  through  the  arm." 

"  Come,  let  us  see  him,"  said  Hamilton.  "  He  aimed 
to  assassinate  either  you  or  me.  There  is  but  a  moment 
to  act,  for  the  sentinels  have  fired  up  the  line  and  the 
guard  will  turn  out." 

Clingman  it  was  indeed,  found  kneeling,  and  stanching 
blood  from  a  ball  through  the  left  arm,  probably  received 
while  still  steadying  his  musket. 

"  You  are  caught  at  your  tricks,  Mr.  Clingman,  I  find. 
Did  you  mean  to  kill  Mr.  Reynolds  or  me  ?" 

"  Hamilton,  ha  !  "  answered  the  ruffian.  "  If  it  had 
taken  a  ball  of  gold  with  the  British  crown,  and  I  had 
known  it  to  be  you,  by  the  snake  rattles  of  old  Nick 
you  should  have  got  it !  " 

"  Then  you  have  not  done  me  harm  enough,  nor  Mr. 
Reynolds  here,  but  you  would  kill  us  both  ? " 

"  I'll  plead  to  nothing.  Infer  your  wust.  If  I  had 
you  both  together  on  this  mountain-top  alone,  and  this 
arm  was  less  of  a  pump-spout  than  it  is,  your  dead  car 
casses  should  bear  the  teeth  marks  of  your'n  tru — 

In  the  sentence  he  swooned  from  rushing  blood.  , 

"Colonel  Hamilton,"  spoke  Reynolds,  in  a  low  voice, 
"  let  me  rid  the  world  and  you  of  this  monster  by  empty 
ing  my  gun  into  his  breast." 

"  No,  Reynolds.  My  offence  shall  take  its  just  sen 
tence,  as  Heaven  wills.  Stand  by  him,  and  when  the 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  175 

guard  comes,  let  him  explain  how  an  officer  of  the  day 
was  guard-mount,  and  also  alarming  the  camp.  It  was  at 
you  he  fired,  asking  for  your  name.  But  shed  not  his 
blood." 

The  next  day,  on  Reynolds'  statement,  a  brief  court- 
martial  dismissed  Lieutenant  Clingman  from  the  army  as 
a  man  of  unfit  character  to  be  in  the  service.  Upon  the 
sufficient  healing  of  his  wound  he  was  to  be  walked  at 
the  tail  of  a  supply  wagon  to  the  Susquehanna,  there 
stripped  of  his  uniform,  his  sword  broken  over  his  back, 
and  a  stave  of  the  u  Rogue's  March "  played  for  his 
especial  delectation. 

Private  James  Reynolds  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenant's 
place  for  vigilant  behavior  on  picket  duty,  vice  Clingman, 
cashiered. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

HAMILTON     RESIGNS. 

HAMILTON  continued  on  with  the  army,  the  dread 
representative  in  official  place,  if  not  in  military  com 
mand,  of  Washington  and  the  state. 

He  now  began  to  demonstrate  those  great  persuasive 
and  impressive  personal  powers  which  reenforced  his  per 
ceptions  and  intuitions. 

At  the  hamlet  since  called  Somerset,  and  made  seat  of 
a  flourishing  county,  two  out  of  the  three  chief  citizens 
were  arrested  for  high  treason  and  endeavoring  to  carry 
the  flame  of  sedition  eastward.  Their  relatives  came  to 
promise  and  to  plead  with  Hamilton. 

He  saw  with  pain  that  the  German  population  had 
been  infected  with -the  Virginia  idea,  that  it  was  tyranny 
to  impose  taxes,  the  same  opinions  which  had  lain  latent 
since  Jack  Cade  and  Jack  Straw,  no  more  original  at 
Monticello  than  at  Smithfield,  or  under  Jack  of  Leyden 
at  old  German  Miinster.  The  child  was  to  prescribe  its 
own  medicine,  the  debtor  to  be  his  own  sheriff,  the  local 
bully  to  have  priority  over  constable  and  marshal. 

The  army  toiled  up  the  Laurel  Mountain  and 
descended  into  the  plateau  of  the  River  Youghiogeny, 
which  flows  out  of  Maryland,  and  it  crossed  the  Chestnut 


176  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

ridge  and  was  on  the  Monongahela  waters  flowing  out 
of  Virginia. 

Beautifully,  dreadfully  the  long  line  unfolded  to  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  its  flashing  bayonets  and  silver 
instruments  of  music,  its  clouds  of  dust  and  triumphant 
strains,  such  as  the  little  children  heard  with  ignorant 
delight ;  its  colors  of  state  and  Nation,  never  separated 
but  in  minds  of  low  degree  ;  its  miles  of  white  teams, 
significant  of  the  public  resources  ;  its  scouts,  skirmishers, 
artillery,  engineers — miniature  of  all  the  world  knew,  or 
was  to  know,  of  war  under  King  Frederic,  Washington, 
or  Napoleon. 

Now  came  the  old  men  and  the  good  men  out,  to  shout 
and  praise  God  that  the  reign  of  Democratic  societies 
was  over,  and  no  loyal  settler  need  longer  get  drunk  and 
curse  Washington. 

Intelligence  and  morality  lifted  up  their  heads.  Con 
gregations  listened  to  their  preachers  instead  of  threat 
ening  to  murder  them  for  giving  good  advice.  The 
army  paid  for  everything  it  needed,  and  scattered  money 
where  none  had  been  seen  before. 

There  burst  upon  the  local  political  economists  the 
memorable  discovery  that  there  was  another  way  to  dis 
pose  of  grain  than  by  sending  it  three  hundred  miles  in 
the  form  of  whiskey,  or  to  drink  all  the  whiskey  that  was 
left  ;  namely,  to  have  the  country  inhabited  by  men  like 
these  invaders,  and  sell  them  the  original  grain,  and  to 
drink  as  little  whiskey  as  possible. 

The  news  spread  that  there  was  a  United  States  judge 
with  that  army,  one  of  the  terrible  new  judiciary  made 
by  Congress  ;  that  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States  was  also  coming  to  identify  the  mail-robbers,  the 
incendiaries,  and  the  rebels  ;  and  that  every  actor  in  the 
public  crimes  of  the  year  was  marked  and  a  warrant 
ready  for  him. 

Cowardice  began  to  tremble  ;  the  Ohio  River  was  filled 
with  rascals  flying  to  Kentucky,  Illinois,  or  Louisiana, 
and  at  their  head  that  frothy  orator,  Bradford,  who  had 
lived  in  three  States,  commencing  with  Virginia,  and  did 
himself  no  credit  in  any. 

The  remaining  subservient  or  demagogical  lawyers  and 
winkers  at  political  insurrection  resolved  to  put  in  the 
universal  plea  that  they  had  only  helped  the  rebellion  on 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  177 

in  order  to  be  able  to  control  it  and  keep  it  from  damag 
ing  anybody. 

Privately  they  all  resolved  to  write  books  if  their  necks 
were  spared,  and  injure  Secretary  Hamilton  with  the 
next  generation. 

These  gentry  sought  Hamilton  out  with  trembling  and 
profound  apology  and  respect. 

He  received  them  all  with  the  courtesy  of  a  fellow- 
citizen  and  man  of  sensibility,  a  mere  servant  of  the  laws, 
like  themselves. 

There  is  not  one  honest  record  that  he  ever  bore  harder 
upon  any  offender  than  to  say  at  one  time,  in  answer  to 
a  recreant  and  craven  lawyer's  statement  :  "  That  will  be 
a  subject  of  future  inquiry." 

And  these  men,  to  be  elected  to  Congress,  or  to  retain 
the  law  practice  of  law-breakers,  had  abdicated  all  the 
heroism  of  honest  and  faithful  citizens,  and  were  not  the 
equals  of  the  private  soldiers  of  that  army,  each  of  whom 
offered  his  life  for  his  government.  A  hundred  thousand 
dollars  apiece  was  the  measure  of  their  robbery  of  Ham 
ilton's  public  treasury  in  the  cost  of  this  expedition. 

Among  the  names  of  evil  repute  in  the  guidance  of  the 
excise  rebellion  was  that  of  a  Virginia  Swiss  named 
Gallatin,  commonly  called  in  this  wilderness  refuge  to 
which  he  had  come,  Gallantine.  The  soldiery  hated  his 
name,  and  the  young  staff  officers  at  their  toasts  lifted 
the  cords  of  their  jackets  as  they  ominously  cried  :  "  This 
for  the  Swiss  Frenchman  !  " 

Hamilton  did  not  know  this  man  except  as  his  invaria 
ble  and  gratuitous  assailant,  specially  keen  and  insidious 
in  the  methods  of  his  attack. 

The  name  of  this  man  was  sent  to  Colonel  Hamilton 
as  the  army  entered  "  Gallantine's  "  adopted  county  of 
Fayette. 

The  culprit  wished  to  see  the  public  man  he  had  in 
jured,  for  enemies  were  pressing  him  hard. 

The  left  wing  under  General  Morgan  had  come  near 
his  settlement,  called  New  Geneva  ;  the  right  wing  cut 
him  off  from  the  East. 

As  a  European  he  knew  what  treason  called  for,  and 
just  now  he  was  freshly  married  to  a  second  wife,  a  young 
and  superior  woman  of  America,  whose  distress  was  no 
less  than  his  own. 
12 


178  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Admit  him/'  said  Hamilton,  instantly. 

There  appeared  in  the  marquee  a  thick-set  yet  tallish 
man,  in  cloak  and  boots. 

His  head  was  of  the  John  Adams  kind,  flattish  and 
bald,  but  none  of  the  narrow  lines  of  Adams  were  in 
that  dark  and  yearning  face,  which  had  something  Jew 
ish  about  its  extensive  nose;  strength  and  suffering,  too, 
in  the  well-bred  mouth;  and  the  plaintive  brightness  and 
fulness  of  his  hazel  eyes  told  Hamilton  that  if  this  man 
was  Swiss  he  was  an  unusual  one.  His  chin  receded, 
and  was  too  childish  for  his  broad  face  and  meaning 
nose. 

Hat  in  hand,  the  visitor  came  as  far  as  the  middle  of 
the  tent,  bent  his  brown  eyes  like  a  captive  upon  Hamil 
ton,  and  articulated  in  a  foreign  accent  : 

"  Sir,  I  am  the  unfortunate  Gallatin." 

As  he  spoke,  there  was  in  the  type,  rather  than  the 
man,  some  reminiscence  of  John  Andre. 

"Be seated, Mr.  Gallatin,"  said  Hamilton,  with  dignity. 

"  No,  sir  ;  not  till  I  have  established  an  interest  in 
your  sympathy.  You  have  had  great  provocation  from 
me,  because  you  were  the  only  man  among  our  oppo 
nents  worth  my  attack.  I  wished  to  attract  the  notice  of 
the  chieftain.  Beside  such  merit  I  expect  to  find  gener 
osity.  Sir,  we  were  both  strangers  in  this  country  not 
many  years  ago.  The  subjects  of  your  public  attention 
and  discussion  are  my  student's  consolations.  We  both 
have  wives — and  love  them. " 

Standing,  yet  rigidly,  hardly  gracefully,  the  gems  of 
tears  took  the  focus  of  light  from  the  pleader's  eyes.  He 
sighed,  and  it  was  like  the  sound  of  a  viol  bow  across  his 
heart. 

Hamilton  went  up  to  Gallatin,  slightly  his  senior,  and 
took  his  hand. 

"  You  have  said  all  and  said  it  eloquently.  If  you  are 
in  any  danger  here,  I  will  let  you  sleep  in  my  tent  to 
night.  Of  course  you  give  yom parole,  Mr.  Gallatin." 

He  laughed  and  called  an  orderly  for  a  glass  of  wine. 

"  What  do  you  meditate,  Mr.  Gallatin,  of  benefit  to 
these  people  whom  we  have  come  so  far  to  correct  and 
improve  ? " 

"  If  I  am  not  tried — and  hanged,"  said  Gallatin,  "  I 
will  establish  the  glass  manufacture  on  these  head- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  179 

waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  every  family  in  the  great  West 
shall  have  native  glass — glass  which  educates  the  refined 
as  well  as  pleases  the  savage  ;  glass  which  lights  the  pio 
neer's  cabin  and  the  rich  man's  mansion.  If  they  give 
me  life,  1  will  leave  them  glass." 

In  seven  years  more,  Albert  Gallatin  was  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  President  Jefferson  said  to  him  : 

"  Make  haste  to  expose  the  corruptions  of  Hamilton's 
system." 

"There  are  no  corruptions,  Mr.  President,"  answered 
Gallatin.  "  Hamilton  was  a  builder.  All  his  lines  are 
plumb." 

The  army  having  waded  in  mud  to  the  knees  for 
much  of  the  march  and  stood  the  fierce  mountain  rains 
heroically — which  caused  the  deaths  of  many  gallant 
youths  and  Revolutionary  veterans  in  time — paused  in 
front  of  the  chief  insurrectionary  district  and  formed  and 
lay  in  divisions  for  inspection,  connected  the  wings,  and 
stood  arrayed  under  Howell,  Mifflin,  Daniel  Morgan, 
and  Smith  of  Maryland,  with  Henry  Lee  for  general 
captain. 

In  another  week  the  whole  body  of  fully  twelve  thou 
sand  men  advanced  toward  Pittsburgh,  covering  both  riv 
ers  from  the  south. 

The  next  advance  enwrapped  the  hostile  centres,  and 
into  Pittsburgh  itself  marched  a  portion  of  the  troops. 

The  little  town  of  logs  and  planks  upon  the  alluvial  of 
the  hills  behind  it,  overlooked  by  mighty  mounds  from 
across  the  rivers,  had  now  seen  the  army  of  Wayne  go  to 
beat  the  savages  and  the  army  of  Hamilton  come  to 
deliver  civilization  in  the  course  of  a  single  year. 

The  two  campaigns  created  the  great  Northwest. 

To  this  day  that  fair  land  has  been  true  to  the  national 
love,  blessed  by  the  federal  fatherhood,  fortunate  in  its 
children,  honest  in  its  finances,  and  of  clear  public  faith, 
and  has  become  opulent  and  controlling. 

Sitting  down  at  Pittsburgh  by  General  Knox,  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  Hamilton  saw  the  benevolent  yet  firm 
administration  of  law  recommence.  It  was  his  only  ex 
perience  by  the  Ohio. 

The  weak  being  sifted  and  the  guilty  only  marked  for 
example,  writs  were  issued,  and  in  one  night  the  govern- 


l8o  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

ment  took  every  prisoner  by  the  simultaneous  movement 
of  its  troopers  accompanying  the  marshals. 

A  portion  of  the  army  stayed  in  the  hostile  country  to 
winter  and  protect  those  who  had  assisted  the  law.  The 
rest  was  ordered  eastward,  but  hundreds  of  mechanics 
settled  down  in  Western  Pennsylvania  from  the  army, 
and  from  that  moment  the  golden  star  of  the  West  stood 
perpetual  in  the  heavens  above  its  harvests,  workshops, 
national  roads,  and  inland  navigation. 

Somewhere  in  that  great  West  is  the  posterity  of  James 
Reynolds,  who  found  in  occupation  and  discipline  the 
right  and  the  zest  to  love  and  wed  again. 

Hamilton  turned  back  to  pass  the  mountains  before 
snow. 

His  official  life  was  forever  ended. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

ANACONDA    AT    HOME. 

MR.  JEFFERSON  sat  in  his  bedroom  at  Monticello,  writ 
ing  letters. 

The  room  had  something  of  a  jail  character,  with  its 
two  small-paned  windows  and  its  deep-embrasured  sky 
light.  At  the  end  was  a  kind  of  hole,  or  alcove,  between 
two  wardrobe  doors,  where  Mr.  Jefferson's  bed  now 
stood  up  on  hooks,  and  exposed,  through  the  hole,  his 
library. 

When  he  designed  to  cultivate  his  peas,  vetches,  Jeru 
salem  artichokes,  and  other  green  material,  he  took  his 
writing  materials  from  the  library  to  this  sinister  bed 
room,  and  the  household  knew  that  he  was  gardening. 

Nobody  was  then  permitted  to  enter  but  his  favorite 
chamberwoman  and  slave,  or  his  daughter,  Martha  Ran 
dolph. 

Mr.  Jefferson  brought  daintily  out  of  one  of  the  side 
doors  his  French  ecritoire,  unlocked  it,  and  looked 
jealously  at  the  contents,  and  through  into  the  library 
and  out  of  the  windows  upon  the  immediate  mountain 
lawn  and  the  deep  blue  panorama  five  hundred  feet  be 
neath. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  l8l 

This  was  the  first  letter  he  wrote  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  The  information  and  copies  your  customary  courtesy 
transmitted  to  me  from  Harris 's  Ferry  and  from  Carlisle  have  been 
attentively  read.  Aware  of  the  very  moderate  remuneration  under  the 
present  ad  ministration  of  affairs  clerical  men  of  the  educated  class 
and  of  distinguished  ability  like  yourself  enjoy,  I  hope  you  will  not 
take  it  amiss  if  I  send  you  ten  pounds  in  this  communication,  as  an 
earnest  only  of  my  personal  tegard  for  those  u'ho  esteem  me  ivortJiv, 
in  my  present  complete  retirement,  of  skating  some  of  the  secrets  of  the 
public  world.  My  sincerest  regards  to  General  and  Mrs.  Washington, 

and  to  Miss  Nellie  Washington. 

" TH.  JEFFERSON. 
"COL.  TOBIAS  LEAR." 

As  he  folded  the  fifty-dollar  note  into  the  letter,  Mr. 
Jefferson  groaned. 

"  If  I  ever  leave  these  bucolic  joys  and  draw  the 
President's  salary,  the  faithful  Mr.  Lear  shall  be  con 
sul  to  the  Barbary  States,  there  to  trade  baked  apples,  or 
have  his  head  served  to  the  Dey." 

Jefferson  folded,  creased,  and  waxed  the  letter.  He 
was  about  to  put  his  seal  upon  it,  but  refrained,  and 
stamped  the  seal  with  a  paper-knife. 

The  omission  of  the  seal  gave  him  a  suggestion.  He 
walked  in  his  slippers  through  the  alcove  and  glass  door 
and  into  his  library,  and  back  again. 

"I'll  risk  it,"  said  Jefferson.  "He  is  old,  courteous, 
and  unsuspecting,  and  he  may  reply." 

Then  sitting  to  his  task,  holding  the  pen  in  his  reverse 
or  left  hand,  the  host  of  Monticello  wrote  a  decoy  letter 
to  Washington,  and  signed  it  '•'  John  Langhorne,"  slowly. 

The  exertion  fatigued  Mr.  Jefferson's  "  off "  hand. 
He  changed  the  quill  to  the  right  hand,  re-pointed  it  with 
his  knife,  and  wrote  a  cordial  letter  to  the  President  upon 
his  new  manner  of  "  cropping." 

There  entered  a  comely  specimen  of  the  "bright 
mulatto  "  blood,  neither  young  nor  old,  but  what  was 
called  a  confidential  servant,  perhaps  thirty  years  of  age. 
She  was  easily  at  home  before  her  master  and  smiled 
upon  him  and  handed  him  his  mail. 

As  he  took  the  letters  from  her  hand,  feverishly,  the 
hand  seemed  to  linger. 

Jefferson  spoke  : 

"  Pshaw  !  Suke,  as  soon  as  I  am  dead  and  you  are 
free,  you  will  forget  me." 


182  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Not  if  I  am  free,  master.  When  am  I  going  to  be 
free  ?  I  think  if  I  was  free  I  could  love  so  much  better. 
Then  if  I  loved  anybody  it  would  be  with  all  my  heart 
— my  gratitude,  and  my  free  will." 

"  Be  off  !  My  mail  is  important  to-day.  What  is  that 
visitor  doing  ?  " 

"  He's  not  as  drunk  to-day  as  he  was  last  night.  He's 
writing  something  funny.  I  reckon  it  is,  for  he's  laughing 
to  hisself." 

"  Then  he's  writing  something  bitter.  Keep  liquor  from 
him.  Give  him  buttermilk.  I  want  him  in  the  library 
at  three  o'clock." 

As  the  woman  passed  out  Mr.  Jefferson's  hands  paused 
upon  his  paper-knife. 

"  Free  to  love  !  "  he  sighed.  "  Love  of  the  free — that 
must  be  consolation.  But  I  cannot  afford  it.  We  are 
all  slaves — to  our  debts,  our  ancestors,  to  social  appear 
ances,  to  public  purposes,  to  great  movements  upon  the 
earth." 

The  first  letter  broke  Mr.  Jefferson's  calm  : 

"  DEAR  COUSIN  TOM  : — I  was  ordered  to  publish  Monroe's  de 
spatch  to  the  general  public.  You  will  see  that  a  few  days  of  France 
have  brought  Monroe  to  denounce  the  Jacobin  Club  and  its  influence 
through  auxiliary  clubs  upon  all  France.  Consequently  our  Dem 
ocratic  societies  are  going  to  pieces  all  over  the  United  States,  espe 
cially  since  the  clean  sweep  Hamilton  and  Lee  made  of  the  whiskey 
insurrection. 

"  Robespierre  has  fallen  ;  he  was  executed  July  the  28th.  In  the 
two  previous  months  he  and  his  faction  guillotined  1,507  people. 

"  ED,  RANDOLPH." 

Mr.  Jefferson's  freckled  face  grew  white  and  his  lip 
trembled.  Even  then  he  smiled  an  outline  smile  and 
checked  his  unruly  respiration. 

"  So,  so,"  he  said,  patting  his  heart,  "  not  too  fast  ! 
L  empire  est  pour  le  phlegmatique.  And  Robespierre  is 
dead — the  greatest  man  in  Europe,  or  the  world  !  Some 
times  I  have  thoqght  I  was  like  him — the  dispassionate, 
austere,  and  vigilant  friend  of  liberty.  There  is  no  more 
reliance  upon  favoritism  in  America  for  France,  but  we 
have  still  left  hatred  for  England.  Let  Mr.  Jay  take 
care  !  " 

He  opened  his  large  parcel  of  newspapers  and  glanced 
them  over. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  183 

"  Monroe  has  become  a  pliant  office-holder,"  said  Mr. 
Jefferson.  "  Perhaps  if  he  was  President  he  would  turn 
Federalist.  If  Madison  had  courage " 

He  took  up  another  letter. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — Having  visited  the  new  lands  of  Western  New 
York,  I  returned  down  the  Susquehanna  and  found  the  Priestleys, 
our  friends,  mysteriously  disconsolate  over  the  absence  of  their 
daughter-in-law,  who  is  said  to  be  somewhere  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  A  Mrs.  Clingman,  whom  I  discovered  at  Wrightsville  Ferry 
on  my  return,  tells  me  that  Mistress  Joseph,  Jr.,  is  in  love  with 
Hamilton.  The  same  charming  informant  states  Hamilton's  private 
satire  upon  you  to  be  '  a  man  of  malignant  passions,  great  ambition, 
and  profound  hypocrisy.'  You  will  acquit  me  of  any  uncivil  end  in 
repeating  this  when  I  might  state  his  worse  opinion  of  myself.  It 
seems  that  my  very  correct  constituent  has  had  a  mistress,  whose 
husband  is  in  my  political  service  now. 

"  Western  New  York  is  filling  up  with  the  picked  population  of 
New  England.  We  flatter  ourselves  here  that  by  a  quarter  of  a  cen 
tury  we  shall  turn  the  census  of  Virginia  down  and  be  the  first  State 
in  the  Union.  Your  obedient  servant, 

"A.  BURR." 

The  letter  aged  Mr.  Jefferson's  face. 

"  Familiarity  !  "  he  observed.  "  Does  he  think  the  re 
peater  of  a  poignant  analysis  to  its  subject  is  ever  for 
given  ?  To  repeat  it  confesses  an  impression  made  upon 
the  common  carrier,  and  that  is  an  insult.  Virginia  will 
last  almost  as  long  as  I  will — the  controlling  State.  God 
bless  her  !  New  York  may  have  Vice- Presidents.  This 
Burr  was  a  soldier  ;  so  was  Hamilton.  There  is  an  idea. 
Soldiers  gravitate  to  Hamilton  ;  civilians  to  me." 

The  next  letter  was  in  cipher,  and  caused  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  to  repair  to  his  secret  closet  and  bring  forth  a  key. 
He  spread  the  letter  out  and  clamped  it  to  his  portable 
desk,  and  proceeded  to  copy  it  by  aid  of  the  cipher. 
The  interpretation  was  this  : 

••WHEELING  CREEK,  October. 

"  DEAR  FRIEND  : — This  will  reach  you  when  I  am  ruined.  Every 
man  besides  took  water:  Gallatin,  Marshall,  Findlay,  the  whole  crew. 
I  promised  you  that  I  would  carry  out  your  full,  instructions  and  never 
flinch.  Have  I  not  done  so?  My  last  attempt  was  to  make  a  new 
State  of  West  Pennsylvania  and  have  it  secede  from  the  Union. 

"Jefferson,  sometimes  think  of  me  !  I  did  not  know  how  I  loved 
you  till  I  gave  my  country  for  your  regard.  It  is  better  to  give  than 
to  receive.  But  since  I  had  the  Pittsburgh  mail  robbed  there  has 
been  no  forgiveness  for  me.  To-night  I  drop  down  the  Ohio  to  find 
shelter,  I  know  not  where.  But  I  have  kept  my  word. 


184  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Considering  your  interests  to  the  last,  I  have  burned  all  your  let 
ters  to  me.  Do  you  the  same  quickly,  for  this  Hamilton  reads  men, 
and  Monticello  is  not  proof  against  a  district  court  warrant. 

"  Devotedly, 

"DAVID  BRADFORD." 

Mr.  Jefferson  crumpled  the  letter  in  his  fist,  glided 
again  into  the  masked  closet,  and  reappeared  with  a  great 
mass  of  correspondence  and  a  copying  book,  of  which  the 
letters  were  the  sequel. 

He  lighted  a  candle  upon  his  library  hearth  and  looked 
carefully  on  till  book  and  letters  were  consumed. 

He  breathed  with  relief  and  also  sighed. 

"  What  power  has  Hamilton — to  march  an  army  and 
to  burn  those  letters  !  I  hate  to  sacrifice  correspondence, 
for  a  dead  man's  letters  haunt  the  earth  and  become  ter 
rible  as  Belshazzar's  phantom  hand.  Perhaps  it  was 
temerity  to  quarrel  with  him — the  petulance  of  my  wom 
anly  nature.  He  was  always  honest.  So  am  I.  I  have  a 
client  he  cannot  appreciate — ideal,  severe,  Spartan  liberty! 
I  am  but  one,  no  warrior,  and  out  of  power,  but  I  can  arm 
a  legion  with  those  goose-quills  and  pass  the  word  that  is 
destroying:  'Detract!  detract!  DETRACT!'  The  Fed 
eralists  have  not  one  politician." 

He  raised  his  hands  slowly  to  the  level  of  his  eyes, 
looked  upon  them,  and  with  each  hand  wiped  an  eye. 
His  fingers  were  wet  with  his  falling  tears. 

"  Come,  tricklers  !  "  he  apostrophized,  seeking  to  smile; 
"  like  other  springs  ye  are  born  of  pressure  and  prove 
me  still  possessed  of  the  winning  powers  of  gentleness  : 
I  am  not  yet  dry.  Flow,  flow  !  "  he  continued,  in  calm 
raillery,  "  but  that  is  all  ye  can  do,  for  I  shall  persevere. 
My  last  blow  at  Hamilton  shall  be  delivered  now,  to  re 
buke  these  tears  and  acquit  me — inflexible." 

He  retired  anew  into  the  closet  and  brought  forth  the 
package  of  letters  received  from  Mr.  Monroe — letters 
signed  with  the  names  of  Maria  Reynolds  and  James,  her 
husband. 

"  Callender  shall  see  them,"  observed  Mr.  Jefferson, 
•'and  charge  corruption  in  that  Hamilton  paid  Reynolds 
money.  Let  Hamilton  explain  for  what." 

Still  calm,  deliberate,  lady-like,  he  went  and  washed 
his  face  and  set  forth  to  find  Mr.  Callender,  the  historian 
of  the  Republic  as  he  had  been  of  Britain. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  185 

Martha  Randolph  saw  her  father  pass  through  the  hall, 
and  she  smelled  smoke  in  the  damp  library  chimney, 
which  could  not  at  once  draw  after  disuse.  Taking  her 
little  son  by  the  hand,  she  entered  the  library. 

Mr.  Jefferson  bowed  with  composure  to  the  carpenters 
and  plasterers,  who  were  still  at  work,  after  twenty 
years  of  tarrying,  upon  his  elephant  of  a  house,  with  its 
square  hall  all  dampened  by  the  classic  portico,  its  lean 
windows  and  dingy  saloon. 

The  bust  of  Voltaire  seemed  to  smirk  as  Mr.  Jefferson 
went  by,  whereupon  he  stopped,  turned,  and  dispassion 
ately  regarded  that  plaster  gentleman. 

The  great  clock,  with  its  cannon-ball  weights,  rasped 
like  a  watchman's  rattle  and  struck  two. 

He  passed  into  the  grounds  and  looked  up  at  his 
mansion  with  its  balustered  cornice,  pediments,  and 
dome.  Already  it  grew  old,  the  bricks  dull,  the  pillars 
mouldy. 

His  horse  was  ready  saddled,  and  a  spare  beast  as  well 
for  Mr.  Callender. 

That  demi-tipsy  son  of  the  saturnine  classical  only  re 
quired  hoofs  and  horns  to  look  the  red  goat,  and  he  was 
assisted  to  mount  against  his  will. 

"  Come,  Mr.  Callender,"  called  Jefferson,  "  a  good  trot 
will  dephlogistonize  you.  Look  down  yonder  at  Char- 
lottesville,  where  I  will  place  my  university  when  the 
monarchists  are  reduced,  and  make  you  and  Thomas 
Cooper  professors." 

"  Tha'  be  the  place,  mon,  wha'  Tarlton  came  in  and 
ran  ye  to  the  woods  ?  "  asked  the  leering  barbarian,  who 
had  cultivated  evil  saying  till  he  must  bite  his  proprietors 
if  his  foes  were  out  of  sight.  "  Folk  tell  me  ye  made 
tracks  that  day — hoot!  Ha  !  ha  !  ha  !" 

The  host  was  silent  yet  fierce,  to  hear  to  his  face  the 
frequent  imputation  that  he  had  run  from  the  enemy 
while  governor. 

This  Thersites  at  his  side  had  pretensions  to  become 
an  historias.  He  was  to  publish  "  The  History  of  the 
United  States  in  the  Administration  of  Washington,"  and 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  incurred  the  nuisance  of  his  society 
and  habits  for  the  purpose  of  forestalling  his  mind  and 
narrative. 


l86  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

They  rode  around  the  truncated  mountain  edge  to 
look  off  at  the  fine  views — the  far  southern  cone  or  peak, 
the  Blue  Ridge  in  the  west,  with  its  characteristic  gaps, 
the  Rivanna  River  flowing  red  paint  beneath. 

"  Ye  must  think  ye're  Jupiter  to  dwell  on  a  dommed 
mountain,"  was  the  polite  reciprocity  of  Mr.  Callender 
for  all  this  attention. 

The  cleft  between  Monticello  and  the  next  knob  was 
the  scene  of  that  dreadful  day  when  the  British  troop 
ers  terminated  for  years  Mr.  Jefferson's  official  life,  the 
panic  going  deep  to  the  foundations  of  his  nature  and 
adding  to  his  infinite  opinions  a  hatred  of  wars,  and,  it 
was  to  be  feared,  of  the  brave. 

Threatened  in  the  legislature  with  an  inquiry  into  his 
public  conduct  on  that  occasion,  Mr.  Jefferson  had  fled 
from  the  empty  scabbard  of  the  office  itself,  while  Washing 
ton  and  Hamilton  were  reaping  the  glory  of  Cornwallis' 
surrender  upon  Virginia  soil.  In  the  midst  of  his  sense 
of  total  public  failure  and  disgrace  his  wife  had  died— 
she  whose  fortune  had  made  him  rich  in  slaves,  adding 
to  his  own  little  parcel  of  those  bondmen  the  number  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five,  constantly  increasing  by  sys 
tem  and  diminishing  by  sale.  To  his  Monticello  and 
neighboring  lands  of  five  thousand  acres  she  brought 
him  forty  thousand  other  acres,  redeemed  him  from  a 
country  lawyer's  drudgery,  and  founded  in  his  heart  the 
public  ambition. 

They  stopped  at  her  grave  on  the  descent  of  the 
mountain  road.  Through  the  leafless  trees  a  peep  was 
afforded  of  Charlottesville,  where  Jefferson  had  been  the 
village  lawyer  and  a  plain  surveyor's  son.  Hence  arose 
his  democratic  radicalism,  upon  the  graft  of  this  Ran 
dolph  aristocracy,  which  had  been  so  supercilious  to  his 
talents  till  he  espoused  the  child-widow  and  her  slaves. 

"  Never  shall  I  marry,"  remarked  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the 
Edinburgh  Bohemian  at  his  side. 

"  Nae  need  !  nae  need  !  "  exclaimed  the  wretch,  grin 
ning  imputatively,  and  deaf  to  this  real  pathos. 

"  I  have  a  work  bequeathed  me,  Mr.  Cullender,  to 
destroy  the  monocrats  and  paper  men,  who  want  armies, 
jobs,  and  debts." 

He  led  the  way  into  the  woods,  which  he  had  grubbed 
and  threaded  with  secluded  riding-paths. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  187 

The  labor  of  the  day  was  to  dig  another  pitfall  for 
Hamilton. 

Toward  five  o'clock  Mr.  Jefferson  came  home  alone, 
with  a  woods  bouquet  of  fringed  gentian,  ferns,  and  bril 
liant  leaves  for  his  masculine-minded  daughter,  who 
kept  his  house.  He  ascended  the  narrow  winding  stairs 
to  her  room  and  could  not  find  her;  he  went  down  to  the 
library,  and  she  was  not  there. 

Glancing  through  the  glass  sash  in  the  alcove,  he  saw 
her  seated  in  his  bedroom  on  the  ground-floor,  at  the 
desk  he  had  left  open. 

The  blank  sides  of  the  room  caused  the  pale  light  to 
fall  from  the  east  whitely  upon  her  matron  form  and 
falling  ringlets,  which  were  dark  as  her  eyes  and  showed 
the  Randolph  personality. 

Upon  Jefferson's  bed  slept  her  first  child;  a  second 
was  absent  in  a  slave's  custody,  and  missed  his  moth 
er's  breast,  for  his  fitful  cry  was  now  heard.  Maternity 
again  seemed  not  remote,  expressed  chiefly  in  the  ner 
vous,  preoccupied  countenance  of  one  who  had  many  of 
Jefferson's  features  and  the  beauty  of  fruitfulness  that 
became  her  and  added  to  her  character. 

"  Here,"  said  Jefferson,  "divide  the  posy  with  Maria 
and  pay  me  in  a  kiss." 

"  I  will,  father,  when  you  take  a  suspicion  from  my 
mind.  Ever  since  you  left  this  house  I  have  been  here, 
not  minding  my  baby's  cry,  waiting  for  you  to  come  and 
tell  me.  Do  these  letters  accuse  Secretary  Hamilton  ?  " 

"  They  do  ;  the  villain  is  exposed." 

"  I  have  read  them  all  ;  they  are  terrible.  If  Eliza 
were  to  see  them  they  might  kill  her.  Father,  what  are 
they  doing  here  ?  " 

"  They  passed  through  various  hands  to  me." 

"  How  fortunate,  father  !  " 

"  Yes  ;  at  this  time  a  windfall.  He  comes  home  vic 
torious — generalissimo,  drum-major,  what  not  ?  Next 
thing  he  will  prance  to  some  domestic  music  when  these 
things  are  read." 

Mr.  Jefferson  assorted  the  leaves  and  wild  flowers  into 
two  parcels  and  moistened  them  at  the  wash-stand.  His 
daughter  sat  looking  at  him. 

"  I  don't  think  you  understood  me,  papa.  I  said  you 
were  fortunate  in  getting  the  letters." 


l88  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"Yes,  Matty,  I  understood  you.  They  are  the  first, 
the  only  tangible  things  I  have  got  upon  him." 

"  I  see,"  said  Mr*  Randolph.  "  You  will  make  him 
your  friend  with  them  ;  I  am  glad  of  that.  I  was  afraid 
this  dirty  man,  Callender,  might  snook  around  here  and 
see  them.  He  has  been  asking  insinuating  questions  of 
the  household  servants.  Why  don't  you  send  him  to  the 
tavern  ?  This  morning  he  asked  sister  Maria  why  we 
kept  no  sheep,  unless  we  were  afraid  they  would  clip 
wool  for  Hamilton's  manufacturing  system." 

"Did  he  ?"  mused  Jefferson,  measuredly,  but  with  a 
flush.  "  Well,  he  is  a  coarse  fellow,  but  just  the  brute  for 
this  necessity.  What  was  that  you  said  about  making 
Hamilton  my  friend  ?  " 

"  Of  course  you  will  send  him  the  letters,  and  that 
will  prove  friendship." 

"  Matty  !  Matty  !  why,  he  would  hate  me  ten  times 
worse.  He  might  fear  me,  but  never  love  me  after  that." 

"  Dear  me  !  Men  are  not  like  women.  I  have  known 
sisters  to  send  back  the  letters  written  to  their  brother  by 
a  lady.  What  can  you  do,  then  ?  " 

"  Smile,  and  let  him  explain." 

"Explain  what?  " 

"  Why  he  gave  eleven  hundred  dollars  to  this  woman's 
husband,  Reynolds,  his  treasury  clerk." 

"  Why,  pa,  I  understand  that.  It  was  extorted  from 
him  between  those  wicked  people.  O  God  !  to  think 
Hamilton,  of  all  men,  should  so  misbehave  and  be  so 
demeaned  !  But  I  shall  stand  by  him." 

"  You  ? " 

"  Yes,  sir."  She  rose  and  stood  and  walked.  "  I  shall 
stand  by  him,  as  I  hope  good  women  will  stand  by  my 
husband  if  he  ever  grieves  me  like  that." 

"  You  were  always  partial  to  Hamilton,"  said  Jefferson, 
restrainedly  jealous. 

"Partial?     I  loved  him." 

"  Hush  !  " 

"  I  loved  him  as  a  dear  friend,  my  father's  associate, 
the  youngest  of  Washington's  little  family.  His  wife  was 
like  my  sister.  Poor  Eliza  !  But,  father,  there  has  been 
some  villany  here.  That  minister  has  been  taken  una 
ware.  He  has  fallen  suddenly,  and  repented  hard.  I 
claim  these  letters,  sir. " 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  189 

She  tied  them  up  decisively  and  put  them'  in  her 
pocket. 

"  Stop  !  "  called  Jefferson.     '•'  They  are  not  mine." 

"  I  know  that.  They  are  Colonel  Hamilton's,  and  can 
be  nobody's  else." 

"  Yes,  they  are  Colonel  Burr's  ;  he  deposited  them 
with  my  old  law  pupil,  Monroe,  who  turned  them  over 
to  me." 

"Therefore,  I  say,"  exclaimed  Jefferson's  daughter, 
with  brusque  words  and  rising  temper,  "  it  was  fortunate 
that  they  came  here.  Christian  interpretation  will  be 
given  to  them  in  the  house  of  Jefferson.  In  my  moth 
er's  name  I  assume  any  impropriety  in  writing  to  my 
friend  :  '  Be  delivered,  Colonel  Hamilton,  from  this  great 
misfortune.  Go  hence,  like  Mary  Magdalen,  and  sin  no 
more.'  " 

She  had  looked  like  that  once  before,  when  he  com 
pelled  her  to  leave  the  convent  in  Paris.  Now,  with  life 
quickened  within  her  and  without,  in  the  shadow  and  the 
fruitage  of  woman's  destiny  of  love,  she  was  indignant ; 
she  was  mad. 

"  This  is  sad  business  to  mix  yourself  in,  Patsey.  Pur 
ity,  purity,  child  !  " 

"  Oh!  there  is  no  Pharisee  in  me;  nothing  uncandid.  I 
can  go  to  a  broken  man's  relief  because  my  hope  is 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  To  me  a  strong  man's 
social  sin  is  nothing  but  his  sickness.  Hamilton  is  lying 
in  the  Hotel  Dieu  upon  the  hospital  cot,  and  here  is 
medicine  to  make  him  well." 

She  drew  the  letters  from  her  pocket. 

"  Do  you  think  I  would  stay  another  night  in  Monti- 
cello,  sir,  if  I  thought  you  would  use  these  letters  to  Mrs. 
Hamilton's  anguish  and  Colonel  Hamilton's  shame?  No; 
the  curse  of  that  cruelty  would  descend  upon  my  little 
children.  Oh  !  could  you  feel  the  burden  of  the  unborn, 
the  helplessness  of  them  who  have  come  and  who  cry  at 
your  breast,  your  heart  would  be  hungry  as  a  desert 
place  for  the  abundant  rains  of  love  and  pity.  You 
would  see  the  need  of  grace — grace  perpetual !  " 

She  crossed  to  her  child,  and  waked  it  up. 

"This  is  the  voice  of  them  who  are  born  to  live," 
spoke  Mrs.  Randolph,  as  the  child  raised  a  little  wail. 
"  This,  also,  is  the  voice  of  them  who  leave  the  world. 


IQO  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

We  cannot  fight  against  the  instincts  of  love.  It  has  a 
thousand  aberrations,  and  to  me  this  man,  who  has  stepped 
aside  from  virtue,  is  but  a  little  child.  He  is  unclean, 
but  his  heart  is  pure.  I  lament  for  his  folly,  but  if  the 
sacrifice  of  my  hairs  could  wipe  his  brow  of  degradation, 
they  should  all  be  his." 

Her  palms  stretched  out  her  hairs.  She  faced  her 
father  like  the  male. 

"This  is  extraordinary,"  lisped  Jefferson. 

"  No,  sir  ;  this  is  Virginian,  the  old,  old  Dominion  of 
hospitality.  Let  Aaron  Burr — whose  glance  to  me  was 
impure  contagion — peddle  in  these  private  letters  ;  and 
horrible  blasphemers,  like  Willy  Giles,  swear  at  God  and 
Washington  in  the  orgies  of  that  saloon  "  (she  pointed 
toward  the  banquet-chamber).  "  We,  who  are  of  old 
derivation  in  Virginia,  our  patron  saint  a  virgin  queen, 
will  wrong  no  stranger  going  through  our  vales,  but  be 
the  Good  Samaritan  and  lend  him  our  beast  to  take  him 
wounded  to  the  inn." 

"  God  be  thanked  !  "  exclaimed  Jefferson,  carried  away 
by  her  plea.  "  Your  mother  lives  in  you,  Martha.  I 
see  my  error,  and  feel  the  wholesome  gust  of  your  im 
pulsive  love." 

"  These  letters  are  mine,  father  ?  " 

"  Yes.  That  is,  if  I  have  any  title  in  them.  They 
were  a  trust  to  me,  but  whose  they  may  be  on  a  last  ap 
peal,  some  judge  must  settle." 

"  Here  comes  one,"  cried  Martha,  "my  husband  !  He 
is  Hamilton's  opponent,  too,  but  a  fair,  fierce  man.  Let 
Mr.  Randolph  decide,  like  Solomon,  whose  babe  is  this." 

She  held  the  letters  up. 

A  dark,  rugged,  Indian-like  man  was  entering  the 
library  with  Maria  Jefferson,  who  was  the  perfection  of 
delicate,  almost  consumptive  beauty,  and  already  in  love. 

"  No,"  exclaimed  Jefferson,  hastily,  "  do  not  present 
the  case.  You  have  won." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  l£)I 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

BLACKMAILERS. 

IN  the  frosty  days  toward  winter  Joe  Priestley  was 
drawing  near  the  town  of  Wright's  Ferry,  on  the  Susque- 
hanna. 

He  had  been  examining  the  new  capital  city  on  the 
Potomac,  where  his  father  thought  somewhat  of  making 
a  "  town-house."  Joe  had  seen-  little  of  a  city  there  but 
ox-teams  hauling  stone  to  the  big  hole  of  the  Congress 
House  and  the  President's  palace,  and  scattered  blocks  of 
dwellings  in  gulfs  of  mud. 

He  was  now  returning  in  the  Baltimore  stage  to  meet 
his  wife  at  Wright's  Ferry,  the  most  convenient  spot  on 
the  Susquehanna  to  Lancaster  and  the  eastern  turnpike. 
Lizzie  had  addressed  him  from  New  York,  and  he  was 
meeting  her  commands  with  obedience  and  remorse. 

Since  his  oblivious  night  and  morning  at  Carlisle  he 
had  been  oppressed  with  a  sense  of  recreancy  and  a  fear 
of  discovery  and  ruin.  How  would  his  wife  meet  him  ? 
By  what  woman's  clairvoyancy  or  world's  whisper  might 
his  compromising  situation  with  the  beautiful  Mrs.  Rey 
nolds  be  betrayed  ? 

Joe  was  not  a  subtle  fellow,  keen  to  lie  out  of  an  of 
fence.  He  feared  his  wife  the  more  because  he  deeply 
loved  her,  and  knew  her  tempered  mettle. 

Nothing  whatever  occurred  to  him  to  say  in  his  own 
behalf.  If  she  should  accuse  him  of  taking  Reynolds  to 
Carlisle  after  the  high  words  between  that  adventuress 
and  his  wife,  and  of  being  found  there  after  a  tipsy 
night  in  Reynolds'  chamber,  he  could  not  even  deny  the 
charges. 

To  other  men  it  might  have  occurred  to  turn  the  tables 
on  his  wife  and  anticipate  her  inquiries  by  a  stern  de 
mand  to  say  where  she  had  been  so  mysteriously  travel 
ling.  Already  Mrs.  Reynolds  had  accused  her  of  being 
in  love  with  Hamilton. 

But  Joe  never  so  much  as  thought  of  this  device.  It 
never  crossed  his  mind  for  a  single  instant  that  his  wife's 
errand  had  been  other  than  charitable  or  heroic.  He 
was  hardly  inquisitive  on  the  subject,  considering  that 


IQ2  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

there  were  many  abstruse  things  not  to  be  fully  under 
stood  between  man  and  woman  till  back  into  Adam's 
nature  the  wife  should  be  restored,  and,  with  the  missing 
rib  in  its  place  whence  God  had  taken  it,  confidence 
should  rest  on  love's  complete  unity. 

"  She  will  not  destroy  me,"  thought  Joe.  "  It's  not 
like  her.  But  how  can  I  ever  take  her  in  my  arms  with  the 
sense  of  my  criminal  unworthiness?  No  ;  I  dare  not  go 
to  Lizzie's  chamber.  It  would  be  to  act  a  lie  and  deceive 
love." 

He  crossed  the  river  -in  the  stage,  which  was  driven 
upon  two  boats  lashed  together,  a  pair  of  wheels  in  each, 
and  ferried  across  the  wide,  shallow,  rock-ribbed  current 
that  had  the  span  of  a  mile  and  an  eighth.  All  that  day 
he  had  been  riding  through  the  German  settlements  out 
of  Maryland,  in  the  midst  of  tidy  farming  ;  and  now 
"  Columbia,"  as  Wright's  Ferry  was  re-named,  began  to 
show  under  the  huge  rock  which  sheltered  it  from  the 
north  winds,  a  slope  of  houses  and  stage  taverns  back  of 
a  ferry-house,  with  the  latest  marvel  of  enterprise,  the 
"  brick  tavern,"  looming  above  everything. 

To  the  "  brick  tavern  "  Joe  bent  his  way,  and  was 
quite  alone  in  the  tavern  parlor,  which  was  on  the  second 
floor,  when  his  troubled  but  conscientious  mind  was 
visited  by  the  wraith  that  had  haunted  him  for  the  past 
three  weeks — Mrs.  Reynolds. 

She  entered  wringing  her  hands,  and  so  much  preoc 
cupied  that  she  did  not  identify  him.  She  was  dressed 
in  a  style  unseasonable,  with  black  lace  upon  her  noble 
arms  and  bust  and  a  black  widow's  robe.  A  kind  of 
turban  of  white  and  black  lace  completed  the  appearance 
of  a  widow  too  young  and  strong  to  wear  such  weeds 
forever. 

"  O  God  !  "  the  woman  moaned,  stepping  like  a  tragic 
queen  to  and  fro,  "  to  be  robbed  of  my  whole  independ 
ence,  my  provision  for  the  long,  cold  winter,  after  what 
I  have  endured  to  procure  it !  Not  one  dollar,  not  my 
stage  fare  to  Philadelphia  is  left." 

Joe's  unselfishness  immediately  betrayed  him  where 
he  sat  in  the  shadow  of  the  chimney-jamb  near  the 
decaying  fire. 

"  You  say  '  robbed,'  Reynolds  ?  Who  has  robbed 
you  ? " 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  193 

He  stood  up  by  the  dull-burning  chandelier  of  whale- 
oil  lamps.  As  he  spoke  he  was  also  blushing. 

"Oh!  Mr.  Joseph,  is  it  you?  How  unceremoniously 
you  left  me  at  Carlisle,  sir  !  What  would  your  wife  give 
to  know  why  ?  " 

"  For  mercy's  sake,  dear  woman  !  "  entreated  Joe, 
"  I  heard  you  say  you  had  been  robbed." 

"Yes;  it  was  only  last  night.  I  came  here  directly 
from  Carlisle,  and  have  been  at  this  house  ever  since. 
There  has  been  stolen  from  my  room  I  fear  to  say  ho\v 
much  money.  We  have  been  quietly  at  work  all  day 
to  recover  it,  but  the  troops  returning,  the  emigrants 
going,  the  swarming  European  refugees  of  desperate 
fortunes,  have  so  filled  this  town  that  we  might  arrest  a 
hundred  people  and  get  no  remedy.  What  shall  I  do  ? 
I  thought  to  wait  for  Colonel  Hamilton's  return  and  be 
in  easy  circumstances." 

"  Madame,  you  must  surely  know  the  amount  of  your 
loss  ?  " 

"  I  do.  It  was  more  money  than  I  ever  before  pos 
sessed  ;  almost  two  thousand  dollars." 

"  You  had  no  such  money  at  Northumberland.  You 
came  there  with  borrowed  money,  I  understood  " 

She  hesitated,  looked  boldly  at  him  in  spite  of  her 
haggardness,  and  exclaimed  : 

"  My  husband  left  it  to  me.     He  is  dead." 

"  Mr.  Reynolds  ?  God  bless  my  soul  !  You're  not 
sorry  for  that  ?  " 

"  No  ;  I  am  married  again.  Take  care  that  you  do 
not  meet  my  husband." 

She  left  the  room  like  a  fury,  and  poor  Joe  was 
plunged  into  a  kind  of  stolid  despair,  which  was  not 
dispelled  when  the  evening  silence  was  broken  by  the 
horn  of  the  Lancaster  stage. 

From  the  stage  his  wife  fell  into  his  arms. 

"  Joe,  Joe  !  "  she  cried.  "  Thank  God!  I  am  back  to 
you.  Have  you  suffered  for  me,  dear,  darling,  indul 
gent  Josie  ? " 

Her  kisses  were  all  over  his  bearded  face.  He  was 
happy  as  the  wretched  ever  are  in  their  domestic  com 
pensations. 

"  Why  don't  you  speak  to  me,  Joe  ?  Tell  me  how 
father  and  mother  are,  and  poor,  dying  brother  Harry. 

13 


IQ4  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Oh!  I  have  been  far  and  seen  much,  and  the  day  will 
be  when  I  can  take  it  all  out  of  my  mind  and  tell  you, 
too,  Joe.  Do  you  believe  in  me  ?  " 

"  Always,"  said  Joe. 

"  As  I  do  in  you,  husband." 

"  Stop,"  said  Joe.  "  If  I  have  not  gone  to  the  devil, 
lass,  I  can't  prove  it.  I  got  drunk  at  Carlisle.  Your 
going  away  upset  me.  I'll  make  a  clean  breast  of  it  right 
here,  and  then  I  shall  close  my  mouth." 

For  a  moment  the  wife  was  silent.  His  blunt,  hard, 
helpless  English  expression  had  paralyzed  her  faculties. 
There  rushed  upon  her  mind  the  sickening  fear  that  for 
a  wilful  friendship  she  had  sacrificed  a  trusty  love. 

"  Come,  sir,  to  your  chamber,"  Lizzie  remarked  when 
they  had  reached  the  parlor  flight. 

"  No,  I'll  not  go  theer,  wife.  My  heart  is  not  clear. 
Go  you  with  this  servant,  and  I'll  wait  by  the  fire  till 
you  are  ready  for  supper. " 

"  What  ?     Ashamed  to  enter  your  wife's  room  ?  " 

"  I'll  not  lie  to  thee,  wife.  I  have  been  a  hard 
case." 

She  looked  one  instant,  and  her  heart  sank  down.  A 
great  something  had  happened  in  her  absence. 

As  the  wife  felt  the  solid  floors,  her  feet,  her  head  giv 
ing  way  under  her  fainting  spirit,  a  shape  went  by  that 
recovered  her  pride  and  kept  her  from  falling. 

It  was  Mrs.  Reynolds,  accompanied  by  Senator  Aaron 
Burr. 

"  Why,  why  !  is  this  the  charming,  cruel  Mrs.  Priest 
ley  ?  "  exclaimed  the  senator.  "  I  heard  of  you,  enam 
oured  creature,  being  as  far  in  my  constituency  as  Al 
bany.  Was  Hamilton  there,  too?  " 

Every  word  was  an  unconscious  stab  to  the  wife's  hun 
gry,  desolate  heart. 

The  household  enemy  pealed  forth  a  mocking,  exas 
perating  laugh. 

"  Ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  "  came  from  Mrs.  Reynolds.  "When 
the  cat's  away  the  mice  do  play.  Oh!  Colonel  Burr — 
ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  " 

The  bells  that  toll  when  the  dead  is  passing  from  his 
wife's  joy  and  darkened  household  are  not  as  cruel  as 
the  laughter  of  the  woman  who  cheats  woman  of  her 
living  spouse.  This  fiendish  glee  is  the  music  of  the 


MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  195 

mighty  judgment,  when  they  who  have  been  false  to  mar 
riage  vows  upon  the  earth,  hear  the  reverberation  of  their 
confession  strike  the  ears  of  the  faithful  injured  who  can 
suffer  not. 

With  almost  lifeless  powers  Lizzie  Priestley  was  guided 
to  her  chamber.  She  waited  till  the  German  attendant 
was  gone  and  she  bathed  her  head  and  temples  in  cold 
water,  and  looked  piteously  at  her  stage-weary,  aging  face 
in  the  little  mirror. 

All  at  once  the  sob,  the  flood,  the  deep  relief  came, 
and  she  sank  upon  the  floor  and  waited  till  the  fountains 
of  her  tears,  the  agony  of  the  first  pain  of  desertion, 
should  be  spent. 

The  relief  went  at  last  and  left  her  very  weak. 

She  lay  still  and  only  sighs  came  from  her.  She  was 
a  little  woman  and  a  brave  one,  but  the  exhaustion  was 
all  the  greater. 

"  My  Father  !  "  she  breathed,  at  last,  clinging  to  her 
bureau  and  looking  upward,  "  the  only  Father  of  the  poor 
in  spirit,  who  dwellest  everywhere  and  never  is  out  of 
the  hearing  of  our  bitter  sorrow  !  I  know  thou  art  try 
ing  me  by  the  injury  I  have  excused  to  another,  the 
sorest  temptation  of  women  who  love  and  have  not  de 
served  this.  Forgive  them  who  have  trespassed  against 
us  !  Let  this  suffering,  Lord,  be  to  my  children's  ac 
count  when  they  are  motherless  !  My  heart  must  break, 
but  I  shall  not  upbraid  him." 

Her  sighs  had  been  heard.  Her  husband  appeared 
before  her. 

"  Lizzie,  don't  take  on  like  that  !  Wait  a  while,  lass, 
and  something  may  come  to  pass,  I  know  not  what ;  but 
let  us  wait  a  bit." 

She  raised  herself  and  put  her  arms  about  his  neck. 

"  My  little  boy  has  fallen  into  the  gutter,"  she  said. 
"  Let  me  clean  his  face  and  tell  him  I  shall  not  punish 
him." 

She  wiped  his  face,  also  travel-aged  and  coarse.  As 
she  did  so  there  came  into  her  mind  a  picture  from  the 
homely  Scriptures  of  the  woman  washing  the  tired  Sav 
iour's  feet. 

"  How  good,  Joe,  are  these  consolations  from  blessed 
reading  !  My  boy,  what  wicked  thing  have  you  done  ? 
Tell  me,  and  never  fear." 


196  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Poor  Joe  broke  away  from  her  endearments  and  stood 
a  minute,  ruefully  meditating. 

"I'll  be  dommed,"  said  he,  candidly,  "if  I  know. 
Whatever  it  was,  I'll  not  make  it  worse  by  lying,  or 
throwing  it  on  another.  Lass,  I  can  swear,  wherever  my 
poor,  drunken  carcass  has  been,  my  heart  has  never 
flickered  in  its  love  for  thee,  and,  by  that  love,  I'll  never 
cheat  my  soul  to  get  out  of  this  scrape.  Whatever  there 
was  of  it  shall  stop  at  the  first  offence." 

"  Come,  take  me  to  supper,  Joe." 

There  was  a  long  table  at  the  tavern  nearly  filled  with 
boarders  and  travellers,  for  Wright's  Ferry  was  the  base 
of  the  late  military  operations  and  the  inland  route  to 
Fredericktown  and  Virginia  from  the  Lehigh  and  New 
York.  German  and  Quaker  girls  waited  on  the  guests, 
and  Dutch  cheeses,  apple-butter,  and  hog's  scrapel  were 
among  the  dishes. 

Mrs.  Reynolds  had  taken  her  place  by  choice  beside  a 
large,  black-eyed  man  in  the  dress  of  a  Mennonite — wal 
nut-dyed  clothing,  coat  collar  erect,  and  hooks  and  eyes 
upon  his  garments  instead  of  buttons. 

The  alert  intelligence  of  Lizzie  Priestley  identified  this 
man,  with  some  remaining  doubt,  as  the  person  who  had 
come  to  Northumberland  in  soldier  clothing. 

He  was  talking  in  a  low  tone  of  voice  to  Mrs.  Reynolds. 
The  subject  of  their  talk  the  wife  believed  to  be  her  hus 
band  and  herself. 

They  were  not  left  long  in  doubt. 

After  the  supper  was  over  the  music  of  returning  com 
panies  from  the  seat  of  war  drew  away  from  the  tavern 
nearly  everybody,  and  left  the  public  parlor  to  the 
Priestley  pair. 

To  these  entered  the  huge  man  with  the  greedy,  hard 
face  and  the  black  eyes,  and  said  : 

"  Do  I  behold  a  Mr.  Priestley,  of  Northumberlin  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Joe. 

"  Exackly.  Will  you  step  this  way  fur  a  minute,  my 
friend  ? " 

A  sense  of  evil  meaning  possessed  Mrs.  Joe.  She  felt 
the  occasion  to  be  a  time  of  war  in  a  strange  land  among 
lawless  camp  followers,  and  the  scenes  of  the  Northum 
berland  riot  were  fresh  in  her  mind. 

In  a  moment  her  husband  reappeared,  pale  and  ex- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  I$7 

cited,  but  with  his  honest  lineaments  seeking  to  find  the 
composition  of  courage  and  self-respect. 

The  burly  Mennonite  followed  him  fiercely. 

"  Not  a  penny  will  I  pay  you  as  the  basis  of  more 
pennies  to  pay,"  observed  Joe  to  the  stranger.  "  In  such 
a  case  the  first  step  is  half  the  journey." 

"  Then  I  shall  call  in  the  law." 

"  I  prefer  to  settle  with  the  law  at  the  worst,"  said  Joe, 
"rather  than  compound  on  such  a  matter  with  you." 

"  I  am  entitled  to  your  life,"  exclaimed  the  man,  with 
a  menace  as  if  he  had  a  weapon. 

"  It  is  not  worth  as  much  as  it  was,"  answered  Joe, 
grimly  glancing  at  his  wife,  who  started  for  his  side,  "  but 
I  doubt  if  it  can  belong  to  you,  or  if  you  will  take  it." 

"Stop!"  muttered  Clingman.  "I  did  not  mean  to 
pester  your  woman." 

"  That's  just  what  I  mean  you  shall  do,"  replied  Joe, 
by  no  means  at  ease,  but  with  a  brave  effort.  "  If  I  am 
guilty  of  what  you  charge,  my  wife  is  equally  injured  with 
all  the  rest.  If  this  is  a  case  of  what  is  called  blackmail, 
I  shall  show  you  that  it  cannot  be  extorted  from  me  by 
my  fear  of  my  wife.  Here  she  is  !  I  am  more  afraid  of  her 
than  of  anybody  in  this  world,  and  to  her  I  have  already 
confessed  the  whole  matter.  So  come  on  with  your  wit 
nesses  and  lawyers." 

"  There  is  no  time  like  the  present,"  spoke  Lizzie 
Priestley. 

"  What  is  it,  husband  ? "  asked  the  fair-haired  wife,  as 
the  great  ruffian  disappeared. 

"  The  same  thing,"  answered  Joe,  gloomily,  "  a  de 
mand  for  money  because  I  have  come  between  this  per 
son  and  his  wife." 

"  And  it  is  not  true  ?  " 

"  I  can't  swear  that  it  is  not." 

"  You  were  intoxicated  ?  " 

"  Perfectly  drunk — oblivious.  When  I  awoke  in  the 
morning  Mrs.  Reynolds  was  in  my  room.  She  appeared 
to  be  accusing  me.  So  did  Tom  Cooper.  I  slipped  out 
of  Carlisle  and  crossed  the  South  Mountain  to  the  Dutch 
settlements  and  on  to  Baltimore.  This  is  the  sequel  of 
it.  It's  hard  to  happen  the  night  you  arrive,  Lizzie,  but 
an  honest  confession  is  good  for  the  soul." 

"  Joe,  I  have  promised  you  and  my  heavenly  Father 


198  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

that  I  will  not  desert  you  or  upbraid  you.  Let  me  meet 
this  charge  for  you.  I  will  not  believe  that  an  honest 
man  loses  his  nature  in  alcohol." 

"The  case  is  all  in  the  enemy's  hands,"  moaned  Joe. 
"  I  will  not  swear  that  I  know  the  contrary  of  anything 
they  say.  There's  an  old  proverb  that  *  drinking  kind 
ness  is  drunken  friendship.'  ' 

Mr.  Clingman  appeared  with  what  seemed  to  be  a 
notary.  The  latter  ordered  the  plaintiff  to  make  his 
charge. 

"  We  appear  by  counsel,"  said  Mr.  Clingman.  "  I  will 
call  in  Colonel  Burr." 

The  Senator  from  New  York  appeared  with  Mrs. 
Reynolds  upon  his  arm.  He  gave  the  lady  a  seat.  She 
sat  in  indolent  grace,  and  from  time  to  time  looked  in 
well-bred  ease  at  Lizzie  Priestley's  childish  figure,  silken 
curls,  and  face  where  spirit  struggled  against  depression 
and  anger. 

"  Friends,"  said  Aaron  Burr,  carefully  closing  the  public 
door,  "  I  was  on  my  way  to  Philadelphia  when  I  heard 
of  this  misfortune.  The  best  way  out  of  it  is  conces 
sion.  The  last  thing  we  want,  Heaven  knows,  is  pub 
licity  on  such  a  charge." 

"  That  is  the  first  thing  we  want,"  exclaimed  Lizzie 
Priestley,  with  clear-spoken  decision.  "  Open  those 
doors,  Joe  !  You  are  no  criminal  yet.  Let  everybody 
see  and  hean" 

Joe  started  to  execute  the  order. 

"  Wait,  wait  !  "  interposed  Mr.  Burr  ;  "  the  charge  is 
graver  than  you  think.  The  plaintiff's  wife  extenuates 
for  herself  by  charging  Mr.  Priestley  with  violence.  He 
ran  away  from  the  State,  and  on  his  return  has  just  been 
apprehended.  In  the  mean  time,  Mrs.  Reynolds  has  been 
stopping  at  this  hotel  for  a  period  of  several  weeks,  and 
has  run  up  a  board  bill  of  considerable  amount.  Yesterday 
she  was  robbed  of  all  her  means.  Her  husband  has  sud 
denly  quit  the  army,  and  he  finds  her  here  injured  on  all 
sides — in  person,  reputation,  pocket.  He  has  laid  a 
claim  upon  Mr.  Priestley,  who,  it  appears,  decoyed  Mrs. 
Reynolds  to  Carlisle  and  quartered  her  conveniently  to 
his  ends.  If  Mr.  Clingman  is  satisfied  with  a  settlement, 
I  advise  Mr.  Priestley  to  make  it ;  for  a  scandal  like  this 
will  follow  his  father's  fame  across  the  ocean." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  1^9 

"  Persecution  is  the  cause  of  father's  fame,"  answered 
"Lizzie.  "  VVe  are  strangers  in  this  land,  and  it  is  inhos 
pitable  that  a  great  man  like  Colonel  Burr  should  join 
these  shameless  people  against  us.  Never  mind,  sir  ;  I 
understand  your  friendship  !  Let  me  be  sworn." 

She  advanced  to  the  notary  and  commanded  that  he 
present  the  Testaments. 

"Now,"  spoke  forth  the  English  wife,  "there  have 
been  other  women  lawyers  than  Portia.  To  take  our  chil 
dren  or  our  husbands  from  us  you  need  all  your  wits  ! 
If  that  vile  woman — yes,  stand  up,  madame,  for  you  do 
not  frighten  me  ! — expected  to  divide  me  from  my  hus 
band,  she  has  failed  already.  I  forgive  him  the  greatest 
offence  I  believe  he  has  been  guilty  of — squandering 
a  single  day  of  his  time  upon  her  !  In  what  is  now  hap 
pening,  he  learns  what  I  felt  from  the  first, — to  despise 
Mrs.  Reynolds.  Creatures  of  her  experience  become  so 
sharp  that  they  forget  their  own  tricks.  It  is  my  solemn 
testimony  that  a  few  weeks  ago,  inspired  by  jealousy 
and  dislike  of  me — husband,  open  those  doors,  I  say,  and 
let  the  really  guilty  hear  the  truth  of  themselves  ! — she 
played  the  very  trick  upon  the  ark  as  we  came  down  the 
Susquehanna  which  is  the  basis  of  this  charge.  She 
threw  herself,  at  my  approach,  beside  my  sleeping  hus 
band,  and  having  sent  for  me,  affected  to  confess  the 
imprudence." 

"  That  is  not  true,  madame  !  "  the  wife  of  Clingman 
languidly  spoke,  yet  with  passion  restrained. 

"  All  true  ;  it  is  an  old  trick  of  yours,  I  suspect.  The 
cabin-boy  informed  me  that  you  sent  him  to  awaken  me. 
I  accused  you  then,  I  accuse  you  now,  of  having  created 
this  scene  at  Carlisle  for  at  least  one  purpose,  which  you 
shall  see  has  failed.  Joe,  my  pure-hearted,  well-acquitted, 
blameless  husband,  come  and  kiss  me  !  " 

The  husband   and  wife  embraced  without  bashfulness. 

"  This  is  not  testimony,"  said  Colonel  Burr. 

"  No  ;  it  is  better  than  that.  It  is  the  confusion  of  a 
woman  who  expected  to  lodge  in  a  wife's  heart  the  doubt 
of  her  husband's  marriage  loyalty.  It  is  the  scarlet 
woman's  overthrow,  to  see  how  love  beats  down  decep 
tion.  If  this  be  a  court,  and  that  notary  not  an  accom 
plice,  let  the  past  record  of  that  woman  and  that  man  " — 
she  pointed  to  the  Clingmans — "  be  inquired  into  and  set 


200  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

beside  Mr.  Priestley's  innocent  life.  Whom  are  they  ? 
Come,  now  !  " 

The  notary  seemed  to  be  uneasy.  The  Clingman 
family  looked  at  Colonel  Burr  for  help,  but  he  was  only 
interested.  Mrs.  Reynolds  seemed  quite  cast  down,  as  if 
she  had  underestimated  her  small,  fair,  active  opponent. 

"  Indeed,  madame,"  she  rejoined,  "there  is  nothing  in 
your  husband,  I  am  sure,  a  lady  would  covet.  Is  it  for 
him  I  throw  contrivances  around  you  ? " 

The  English  wife  answered  "  No  !  "  with  rapid  spirit, 
and  stopped  short. 

"  Let  her  say  for  whom,  then,  before  her  husband  ?  " 
challenged  Mrs.  Reynolds  with  jealous  deliberation. 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  replied  Colonel  Burr.  "  She  has  condoned 
her  husband's  truantry.  Let  him  do  the  same  if  Madame 
Priestley  has  fallen  in  love  with  Colonel  Hamilton." 

"  I  have,"  in  a  burst  of  candor  and  exasperation'  an 
swered  the  English  wife.  "  My  love  for  that  man  none  of 
you  can  conceive,  who  know  not  disinterestedness  or  the 
Christian  love.  It  is  to  pour  that  abandoned  woman's 
cup  full  of  bitterness  that  I  confess  this  passion  for  Col 
onel  Hamilton,  and  its  return.  All  things  are  made 
ready  for  his  complete  appreciation  of  me.  I  shall  shine 
in  the  mirror  of  his  affections."  I  shall  be  named  beside 
his  wife.  His  household  altar  will  contain  my  lamp. 
Bright  and  glorious  will  my  love  appear  there  when  you, 
Mrs.  Reynolds,  shall  be  a  word  of  dishonor  uttered  upon 
the  lips  of  any  of  Hamilton's  name  !  " 

The  scene  had  changed  from  a  battle  of  wits  to  what 
looked  very  like  two  jealous  women  defying  each  other. 

"You  hear  the  truth,  now,  Mr.  Joseph  ?"  called  Mrs. 
Reynolds,  deeply  moved  yet  alarmed.  "  Has  she  not 
followed  Hamilton  from  Philadelphia  to  New  York,  to 
Albany,  wherever  he  has  been  ?  But  he  is  still  Maria's 
friend." 

"  Listen,  Joe  Priestley,"  continued  the  wife.  "  I  will 
not  have  that  woman  ever  pursue  me  with  this  charge 
again.  I  tell  you  before  her  that  I  love  Alexander 
Hamilton.  Now  let  her  understand  it  !  And  by  that 
love — the  perfect  love  which  casteth  out  fear — I  shall 
make  Hamilton  describe  Mrs.  Reynolds  in  her  real  char 
acter  to  the  world." 

"  That  he  will  never  do,  madame,"  replied  Mrs.  Rey- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  2OI 

nolds.  "  I  have  been  waiting  here  for  Colonel  Hamilton 
all  this  time.  He  entertained  me  at  Carlisle.  Till  dis 
turbed  by  President  Washington  there,  his  tenderness 
to  me  was  divine." 

A  light,  firm  step  was  in  the  hall.  Lizzie  Priestley, 
with  a  scream,  the  climax  of  her  high  feelings,  welcomed 
a  stranger  at  the  door. 

With  marks  of  mountain  travel,  Hamilton  entered  and 
bowed  to  them  all. 

"  Did  I  hear  my  name  ?  "  he  asked,  looking  around  at 
the  contents  of  the  room. 

"  Yes,  Hamilton,  I  mentioned  it,"  spoke  Mrs.  Priestley. 
"  We  have  just  been  accused  here  by  that  woman — Mrs. 
Reynolds — of  an  infamous  crime.  My  husband  is  still 
beneath  her  imputations,  and  she  is  sustained  by  this 
person,  Clingman.  You  see  our  situation.  Now  describe 
them  to  us  in  the  light  of  justice  to  all.  What  are  they  ? " 

"  They  are  a  pair  of  what  are  called  Blackmailers,"  re 
plied  Hamilton,  quietly.  "  I  thought  the- woman  might 
be  better  than  the  man,  but  I  have  discovered  differently. 
It  was  I  who  had  them  both  expelled  from  the  army  dis 
trict.  The  only  night  Mrs.  Reynolds  spent  in  Carlisle 
she  visited  my  room  and  plied  her  wiles  upon  me  again. 
Her  putative  husband,  Reynolds,  told  me  that  her  errand 
was  to  rob  me.  Failing  in  this,  she  robbed  Clingman,  her 
real  husband,  and  fled  the  lines  to  this  place,  where  she 
had  accumulated,  I  am  told,  considerable  money  from 
passing  officers  and  purveyors  of  the  army,  by  the  arts  of 
decoy  and  of  crime,  until  she  was  stripped  of  it  yesterday, 
probably  by  a  confederate." 

"  My  God  !  Hamilton,"  moaned  Mrs.  Reynolds,  "you 
are  killing  me.  May  I  never  live  from  this  moment  if  I 
sought  you  out  at  Carlisle  from  any  different  motive  tharr 
Love  ! " 

"  Madame,"  said  Hamilton,  "there  is  no  such  motive 
among  your  effects.  In  injuring  this  lady  you  attack 
your  sex  and  your  country's  hospitality.  Come,  my  friends 
Priestley,  and  sit  with  me  an  hour.  What  man  is  that,  I 
pray?" 

The  alleged  notary,  with  a  sudden  dart,  slipped  past 
Hamilton  and  ran  down  the  stairs. 

"  Colonel  Burr,"  remarked  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  as  he  led  the  Priestleys  away,  "  I  hope  you  will  settle 


202  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON, 

with  that  pair  of  miscreants,  who  are  not  above  accusing 
you  of  complicity  in  their  scheme  against  Mr.  Priestley. 
Since  you  advised  me  so  considerately  of  Clingman's 
desire  to  kill  me,  I  am  sure  you  know  how  to  deal  with 
him." 

The  Priestleys  also  left  the  place. 

Aaron  Burr  closed  the  parlor  door,  and  bolted  it. 

"  This  little  scene,"  said  he,  turning  to  the  Clingman 
pair,  "  was  arranged  by  me  to  have  Mr.  Clingman's  room 
searched  while  we  kept  him  busy.  Maria — I  shall  call 
you  so  hereafter — I  have  had  the  signal  that  all  your 
effects  are  recovered." 

Jake  Clingman  started. 

Mr.  Burr  was  playing  with  a  pistol. 

"I  hear  steps  on  the  stairs,  Jacob,"  remarked  Mr.  Burr, 
quietly.  "  There  is  no  way  for  you  to  escape  but  by  the 
window  now.  Before  you  go,  let  me  say  again  that  your 
Ward  is  ready  for  you  in  New  York." 

With  a  glance  at  the  pistol,  a  menace  toward  his  wife, 
Mr.  Clingman  cleared  the  window  and  was  gone. 

Colonel  Burr  turned  to  Clingman's  confederate,  who 
was  weeping  : 

"  Maria,  I  have  come  back,  as  I  promised,  to  receive 
your  answer.  You  know  that  you  must  be  mine." 

"My  heart  is  broken,"  sobbed  the  lady.  "  The  man  I 
love  has  mocked  me  before  my  rival.  Oh,  what  a  revenge 
Reynolds  took  upon  me  !  I  would  not  have  harmed  Mr. 
Hamilton  at  Carlisle  for  the  wealth  of  Robert  Morris." 

"  Come  with  me  to  New  York,  Maria,  and  Hamilton 
will  be  there.  I  shall  not  be  an  exacting  guardian.  Free 
dom  is  my  own  way  and  my  concession  to  the  fair." 

She  rose  to  her  feet  and  looked  down  upon  his  cool, 
self-centred  little  presence. 

"  Aaron  Burr,  you  know  that  I  hate  you.  The  indignity 
you  put  upon  me  that  day  when  Hamilton  came  to  Jake's 
I  never  shall  forget." 

"  It  is  that  repulsion  which  attracts  me,  Maria ;  your 
last  genuine  feeling,  fresh  to-day  as  once  were  your  mod 
esty,  truth,  and  principle.  If  you  loved  me  I  might  have 
caution.  Since  you  do  not,  I  shall  be  the  more  your 
master.  I  possess  all  your  winnings.  You  are  destitute 
here.  A  widower's  friendship  is  open  to  you,  and  winter's 
protection  from  the  despair  of  the  castaway." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  203 

He  had  put  her  situation  irresistibly.  She  slowly  an 
swered  : 

"  Well,  then,  she  who  hates  you  surrenders  to  you 
again.  If  I  am  yours,  you  are  mine. " 


CHAPTER    XX. 

HOUSE-MAKINGS. 

THE  literature  of  a  new  country  is  house-building,  and 
the  most  happy,  anxious,  wretched  time  of  Priestley's  life 
was  building  his  house  at  Northumberland.  He  had  to 
rely  on  neighborhood  mechanics  of  that  republican  equi 
poise  nobody  could  drive  but  anybody  might  coax,  and 
the  doctor  soon  learned  the  whole  basis  of  Jeffersonian 
politics,  that  they  who  served  in  America  ruled  their 
masters. 

"  They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait," 

was  the  main  resemblance  in  Pennsylvania  to  the  Mil- 
tonian  commonwealth — among  the  mechanics. 

The  doctor  had  about  four  thousand  dollars  hard 
money  annual  income,  and  a  capital,  besides,  of  quite 
ten  thousand  dollars.  He,  therefore,  could  undertake 
to  build  an  unusually  large  and  complete  house  for  the 
United  States,  and  in  building  it  he  separated  himself  the 
more  from  the  common  run  of  people,  who  beheld  a 
"  gentleman  "  where  there  were  no  gentlemen  expected, 
but  all  were  earners  or  traders.  Many  English  were  in 
the  place,  nearly  all  of  them  free-thinkers,  and  Priestley 
found  that  an  English  free-thinker  was  another  sort  of 
sectarian,  without  humility. 

He  pined  for  the  time  when  he  could  unpack  and  assort 
his  library  and  fall  to  the  study  of  his  Master  ;  when  he 
could  have  a  commodious  laboratory  and  relieve  scholar 
ship  with  experiments. 

The  house  moved  on  so  slowly  that  he  went  down 
to  Philadelphia  the  second  spring  and  delivered  his  lect 
ures  on  the  Evidences  of  Revelation,  in  the  Universalist 
church. 

The  man  who  had  dismembered  the  air  and  proved  life 


204  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

and  vegetation  to  be  exact  correlatives,  could  not  get 
another  conventicle  in  the  city  to  defend  the  Scriptures 
from.  No  wonder  that  in  time  Revelation  howled  for 
Science  to  come  to  its  support,  like  the  priests  of  Baal 
for  rain. 

But  it  became  fashionable  to  go  and  hear  Priestley,  and 
President  Adams  and  Vice-President  Jefferson  attended 
nearly  all  the  lectures, — invasions  of  the  Sunday  night 
monopoly  of  those  who  rejected  information  from  their 
sermons. 

The  elegant  Philadelphia  belles  were  quite  put  to 
shame  sometimes  by  the  doctor's  plain  language  in  de 
scribing  the  pagan  rites.  But  our  English  dissenter  had 
no  mock  modesty,  and  the  great  judges  and  attorneys 
listened  with  hunger  to  the  first  manna  of  science  dis 
pensed  in  a  wilderness  of  greed  and  superstition. 

There  sat  Hamilton,  too,  who  had  come  on  to  make 
his  maiden  speech  before  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Priest 
ley  went  to  hear  him. 

Worn  down  with  study,  the  retired  secretary  spoke  for 
three  hours  on  the  carriage  tax.  His  old  followers  were 
affected  to  tears  as  they  heard  him  say  that  a  carriage 
was  a  mere  article  of  luxury,  and  add  : 

"  It  so  happens  that  I  once  had  a  carriage  myself,  and 
found  it  convenient  to  dispense  with  it.  But  my  happi 
ness  is  not  in  the  least  diminished." 

Congress  was  deserted  to  hear  Hamilton  earn  his  daily 
bread,  and  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  extension  of  the  old 
State  House,  was  as  unable  to  accommodate  Hamilton's 
auditors  as  the  church  to  -hold  Priestley's  pupils. 

Doctor  Priestley  found  Mr.  Adams  in  a  great  state  of 
rage.  He  said  that  the  ridiculous  homage  to  that  quite 
ordinary  creature,  little  Aleck  Hamilton,  was  as  absurd 
as  the  great  booing  scene  at  Washington's  Farewell  Ad 
dress. 

"  They  went  there  to  boo,"  shrieked  the  new  President ; 
"  men  and  women  to  boo,  sir  !  Boo,  boo,  boo  !  " 

Here  President  Adams  stood  on  his  tip-toes  and  made 
an  imitation  of  people  crying  into  their  pocket-handker 
chiefs.  Then  he  shouted  : 

"  And  me,  sir,  me,  ME,  who  had  been  presented  to  the 
majesty  of  England  in  the  private  cabinet — me  reflected 
upon  by  all  that  booing,  as  if  it  was  to  be  an  affliction, 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  205 

sir,  to  have  me  rule  this  second-class  realm  after  Mr. 
Washington's  retirement !  " 

Mr.  Adams  then  fell  to  some  muttered  comments 
upon  the  way  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine  was  lost, 
and  remarked,  "  That  was  the  time  to  boo." 

The  doctor  was  a  poor  worldly  observer,  but  it  oc 
curred  to  him  that  Mr.  Adams  had  already  introduced 
the  American  epidemic  of  two  terms  of  the  presidency. 
Washington  having  been  president  twice,  Mr.  Adams 
was  afraid  he  should  be  president  only  once,  which  some 
said  was  already  once  too  much. 

The  heart,  the  head  of  the  Federal  party  was  with 
Hamilton.  This  Mr.  Jefferson  admitted  to  Doctor  Priest 
ley,  saying  : 

"  Hamilton  may  save  that  party  from  Adams,  but  Ad 
ams  is  quite  as  likely  to  come  over  to  us  as  to  permit 
Hamilton  to  be  paramount.  Hamilton  loves  the  powers 
of  government  ;  Adams  has  the  Boston  complaint  of 
thinking  the  honors — the  halberds — are  the  powers." 

Mr.  Jefferson  then  described  to  Doctor  Priestley  how 
Hamilton  was  "  for  monarchy  bottomed  on  corruption," 
and  Adams  for  sniff ery  bottomed  on  monarchy  ;  called 
God  to  witness  that  he  was  not  like  other  men,  even  like 
the  new  run  of  lawyers,  and  added  that  his  new  peas 
were  of  the  size  of  cantaloupes  and  embarrassed  the  live 
stock  wandering  through  his  pea-patch. 

The  engines  of  defamation  were  still  running  strong, 
however,  and  kept  John  Adams  dancing  with  pain. 
Every  time  he  was  going  to  accuse  the  Vice-President 
of  feeding  those  presses  Mr.  Jefferson  flattered  him  with 
the  idea  that  he  was  a  remarkable  improvement  upon 
Washington  and  Hamilton. 

The  Federalists  now  started  a  navy,  to  Mr.  Jefferson's 
abhorrence,  who  had  a  method  of  whipping  England  by 
the  United  States  going  into  a  shell — and  closing  up 
the  shell.  This  he  called  the  escargot,  or  embargo,  or 
something  the  good  doctor  could  not  remember. 

Senator  Aaron  Burr,  however,  had  been  retired  from 
the  Senate  without  an  appealing  vote,  and  the  father-in- 
law  of  Hamilton  unanimously  restored. 

The  house  at  Northumberland  was  nearly  ready  when 
two  of  those  who  had  waited  to  inhabit  it  proved  the 
old  proverb  that  a  new  house  is  christened  by  a  funeral. 


206  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON, 

All  the  family  had  seen  that  new-world  home  rise  care 
fully  from  the  immense  excavation  to  the  great  frame 
work,  forest  of  studding,  and  mighty-hipped  gable. 

When  the  purlines  were  carried  out  on  the  dizzy 
beams  by  the  American  carpenters  and  venturesome 
town  boys,  all  lifting  the  timbers  by  props  to  their  mor 
tises,  there  were  barrels  of  cider  and  of  ale,  and  sides 
of  beef  set  out  upon  the  lawn,  and  the  American  flag 
streamed  from  one  of  the  two  tall  chimneys  amidst 
boughs  of  fir-trees.  From  Shamokin  Hill  and  Island, 
from  Blue  Hill  and  Montour  Ridge,  and,  it  almost  seemed, 
from  the  White  Deer  Mountains,  people  and  spirits  were 
looking  on. 

There  stood  the  fair  house  of  "  the  chimikil  doctor  " 
at  last,  with  two  stories,  two  wings,  and  liberal  attics.  At 
one  end  was  the  laboratory  wing,  twenty-one  feet  square; 
at  the  opposite  end  was  a  kitchen  of  the  same  size. 
Through  the  middle  of  the  dwelling  the  hall  was  eight 
feet  wide  and  nearly  fifty  feet  long,  and  gave  access  near 
the  street  front  to  the  airy  stairway.  Another  wing 
hall,  proceeding  from  this,  divided  the  great  pantry  from 
the  dining-room.  The  full  side  opposite  was  devoted 
to  the  library  and  living  rooms,  with  large  connecting 
doors.  In  the  auxiliary  hall  were  several  closets  and  a 
companion  stairs. 

Upon  the  second  floor  were  two  bedrooms  over  the 
library,  of  about  eighteen  feet  square;  a  hall  in  front  wide 
as  the  great  triple-mullioned  window  there  ;  a  cosey 
bedroom  closing  the  foot  of  this  hall ;  a  small  bedroom 
between  the  back  stair  and  the  corner  front,  and  Priest 
ley's  own  bedroom,  twenty-one  by  eighteen  feet,  in  the 
southwest  corner,  with  a  parti-hall  to  separate  it.  All 
these  five  bedrooms,  and  the  whole  house,  indeed,  had 
large,  perfect  fireplaces. 

The  garret  consisted  of  four  immense  rooms,  in  one  of 
which  opened  the  stairway. 

The  hand-carpentry,  wainscot  rails,  plastering,  and 
flooring  of  this  house  were  of  the  best  material  and 
workmanship  extant,  and  everything  was  dry,  well  venti 
lated,  roomy,  and  high. 

Externally,  Doctor  Priestley's  mansion  made  the  im 
pression  of  a  great,  bright  yellow  frame  manse  or  villa 
with  a  roof  gallery,  and  about  one  hundred  feet  long, 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  207 

and  half  as  wide.  In  front  were  wooden  palings,  and 
behind  was  a  grass  lawn,  sun-dial,  rare  trees,  a  young 
orchard,  and  the  beautiful  river,  eight  hundred  feet  wide, 
on  each  side  of  a  large  green  island. 

It  was  the  noblest  house  the  doctor  ever  possessed, 
and,  like  most  perfect  homes,  it  had  only  come  when  he 
was  losing  his  teeth. 

During  the  building  of  the  house,  when  sons  Joe  and 
Harry  were  bringing  up  their  farms,  the  residence  of  the 
family  was  temporary  or  fugitive.  The  third  son,  Wil 
liam  Priestley,  took  a  Pennsylvania  wife  and  emigrated 
to  the  Mississippi  region. 

The  beautiful  library,  of  which  Priestley's  works  made 
a  large  case,  was  already  being  unpacked  and  the  scien 
tific  apparatus  shelved  when  Harry  Priestley  died. 

He  was  the  youngest  son,  his  mother's  last  bearing, 
and  the  end  of  fruitfulness. 

The  last  rose  of  summer  may  awaken  a  sentiment,  but 
the  last  child  of  a  good  mother  is  hardly  less  precious 
than  the  first,  as  her  last  pain  and  joy  and  sight  of  one's 
own  babe. 

This  was  her  final  piece  of  authorship,  wherein  she 
was  her  husband's  literary  master,  for  his  books  were 
automatons,  and  hers  had  the  immortal  tongue  which  is 
promised  to  be  heard  among  angels. 

Harry  was  expected  by  his  father  to  become  his  suc 
cessor  as  priest  and  naturalist  ;  but  the  instincts  of  the 
heart  precede  all  such  artificial  selection,  and  he  was  as 
candidly  in  love  as  his  family  were  uncandidly  kind  to  • 
him.  They  dared  not  tell  him  what  Mrs.  Reynolds  had 
been  and  was. 

The  boy's  heart-disease  soon  reduced  his  hours  of 
labor,  and  he  put  his  head  in  his  mother's  lap,  when  the 
doctor  forbade  him  to  chop  and  lift  stones  from  the 
fields  ;  and  there,  like  a  child,  he  wept. 

"  Mother,  now  I  can  never  marry  Maria  !  I  cannot 
make  me  a  home  to  bring  that  saint  to." 

The  appellation   of  "saint"    to    a    woman    now  well 
understood  in  the  Priestley  household — even  if  misunder-   , 
stood — gave  the    pitying   mother   a   signal   to   help   her 
boy. 

In  another  room  Doctor  Priestley,  with  all  the  British 
dissenter's  zeal,  was  showing  up  the  fallacies  of  "  popery." 


208  MRS     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

His  wife,  an  unconsciously  constructive  theologian, 
revived  to  her  son  all  the  possibilities  of  comfort  in  the 
Virgin's  name. 

To  the  love-sick  boy,  stricken  out  of  the  ranks  of 
house-makers,  not  even  the  name  of  Jesus  was  efficient, 
unless  coupled  with  human  love,  arid  his  mother  began  to 
realize  upon  the  morsels  of  the  story  of  the  mother  of 
Jesus,  which  repeat  the  miracle  of  feeding  the  multitude 
forever  upon  their  leanness,  and  ever  basketfuls  of  frag 
ments  remain. 

"Ah!"  said  the  boy,  "  she  was  like  my  lady — perse 
cuted,  sent  up  to  be  taxed,  made  mother  upon  the  way 
and  in  the  stall.  But  wise  men  found  her  out,  and  Maria 
is  the  same.  Mother,  will  not  the  Virgin  come  and  let  us 
all  see  her?" 

"Father  do  say  so,  Harry.  Father  thinks  Christ's 
second  coming  is  very  near.  It  may  be  thirty  years, 
father  argues,  not  longer." 

"  Then  we  shall  not  have  long  to  lie,  mother,  in  the 
house  of  clay.  We  shall  be  raised  early.  We  shall  not 
be  forgotten." 

l{  O  Harry  !  our  new  house  is  all  but  ready.  Shall  I 
not  hear  thy  voice  in  its  chambers,  my  son  ? " 

"  I  will  be  dead  but  a  little  while,  and  Maria  will  not 
forget  me.  As  she  stands  by  Mary's  side  in  the  court  of 
the  King,  I  shall  be  pointed  out.  *  There's  Hal  !  '  will 
my  lady  say." 

The  August  weather  came,  and  Harry  added  the  bilious 
fever  to  his  organic  complaint,  so  that  he  was  soon  worn, 
between  the  furnace  and  the  chill,  to  a  remnant  of  his 
rugged  self.  He  drew  his  mother's  life  out,  too,  upon 
the  suction  of  his  own  ;  she  saw  the  fever  fire  up  his 
weakened  heart  and  drive  it  beyond  nature.  Her  lean 
hand  was  always  on  his  pulse,  and  it  seemed  to  be  her 
own — to  make  her  aged  heart  gallop  with  it,  like  a  young 
horse  harnessed  with  its  dam,  or  to  flutter  and  be  cold 
when  her  baby  fainted. 

Priestley  himself  lived  very  little  in  this  world,  and  his 
wife  had  taken  everything  off  his  hands,  so  that  he  could 
engage  in  the  ancient  pagan  battles  with  the  Stoics,  Pela 
gians,  Arians,  and  all  the  different  popes.  He  came  in 
sometimes  and  looked  at  his  dying  boy  and  wrung  his 
hands  in  helpless  pity,  and  went  out  again. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  209 

"  If  I  only  had  my  laboratory  !  "  exclaimed  the  doctor, 
"and  could  get  him  some  oxy " 

"  Dephlogisticated  air!  "  remarked  Mr.  Cooper.  "He 
is  phlogistonized  and  burns.  Why  don't  you  answer  the 
French  minister,  Adet,  on  that  Lavoiserian  heresy?" 

"  There  is  no  chemistry  to  restore  life  but  the  resur 
rection,  Thomas.  '  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part 
in  the  first  resurrection  ;  on  such  the  second  death  hath 
no  power.'  " 

"  Stuff  and  phlogiston,  Doctor  !  "  remarked  Mr.  Cooper. 
"  Come  and  write  that  article  against  commerce  for  Du- 
ane's  paper.  Mr.  Jefferson  says  your  pen  must  be  exerted, 
as  they  are  dephlogisticating  Liberty. " 

So  the  doctor,  who  knew  no  more  upon  the  subject 
than  college  professors  ever  since,  made  his  virgin  appear 
ance  in  the  American  press,  saying  : 

' '  The  additional  price  to  the  carrier  to  indemnify  him  for  his  risque, 
the  expence  of  ambassadors,  and  that  of  fitting  out  ships  of -war,  I 
cannot  help  thinking  must  be  much  more  than  all  the  profit  that  can 
be  derived  from  the  carrying  trade.  By  laying  up  our  ships  we  are  in 
no  danger  of  quarrelling  with  our  neighbours.  If  one  nation  affront 
another,  the  people  would  do  best  to  take  it  patiently,  and  content  them 
selves  with  making  remonstrances.  There  is  the  truest  dignity  in 
this  conduct.  If  any  person  will  send  his  goods  to  sea,  it  should  be  at 
his  own  risque." 

Had  instigation  been  able  to  throw  its  shadow  over 
such  nonsense,  Mr.  Jefferson's  shadow  from  Monticello 
would  have  fallen  on  Priestley's  paper.  President  John 
Adams,  who  was  trying  to  create  a  navy  to  protect  the 
rich  commerce  of  his  country,  read  this  article  of  Priest 
ley  and  grew  furious. 

"Such  aliens  who  preach  sedition,"  he  roared,  "  de 
serve  no  more  mercy  in  America  than  in  England." 

At  that  time  our  manufactures  were  not  great  enough 
for  Mr.  Jefferson  to  attack  them,  and  he  was  setting  his 
incendiaries  upon  American  shipping,  as  the  great  harpy 
of  the  land,  eating  the  farmer  up. 

In  time  this  little  navy  of  the  Federalists  redeemed  the 
honor  of  his  land,  after  he  had  fled  from  the  White  House 
to  Monticello  at  the  first  broadside  of  Mr.  Canning's 
guns. 

When  next  Doctor  Priestley  went  to  Philadelphia  to  lect 
ure,  the  fashion,  character,  and  patriotic  manhood  of  the 
14 


216  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

land  was  not  in  attendance.     Neither  honor  nor  reward 
was  his  return,  but  silence  and  neglect. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  not  done  with  him,  however,  for  his 
motto  still  was  :  "  Let  us  cultivate  Pennsylvania,  and  we 
need  not  fear  the  universe." 

Lizzie  Priestley  was  drawn  close  to  her  mother-in-law  * 
by  natural  sympathy  and  by  a  certain  bereavement  of  her 
husband's  natural  confidence. 

Ever  since  the  night  she  had  declared  her  affection  for 
Hamilton,  in  terms  beyond  their  meaning,  Joe  had  looked 
preoccupied.  Mrs.  Reynolds  had  left  a  certain  sting 
behind  her,  vanquished  though  she  was.  She  had 
exasperated  Lizzie  Priestley  to  admit  that  she  loved  the 
man  whom  she  loved  only  with  the  affection  of  rectitude 
and  of  service. 

But  that  service  she  could  not  betray  to  her  husband, 
because  its  concealment  was  the  continuation  of  her 
sacrifice. 

In  the  mean  time  Colonel  Aaron  Burr  was  writing  to 
her  husband,  as  she  well  knew,  and  Joe  did  not  show  her 
the  letters. 

So  there  were  two  secrets  between  man  and  wife,  and 
each  kept  one  secret,  like  a  disease  or  a  hidden  defect. 
In  the  marriage  chamber,  in  the  perfect  union  of  mutual 
parentage,  was  a  closet  more  delicate  than  Bluebeard's 
chamber,  and  its  forbidden  key  unlocked  the  doors  of 
dreams  and  made  man  and  wife  mutter  :  "  The  chain  of 
confidence  is  not  complete." 

They  never  quarrelled,  but  to  pure  affection  a  quarrel 
is  a  clarifying  thunder-gust.  Alas  for  them  whose  love  is 
sundered  and  who  quarrel  not ! 

Each  felt  a  sense  of  injury,  and  that  is  where  the 
enemy  of  love  finds  its  golden  mail  opened — in  self's 
impregnability,  the  entertaining  of  a  grievance  instead  of 
confessing  to  be  the  injurer. 

Joe  had  escaped  lifelong  woe  by  his  wife's  defence  of 
him,  but  was  too  human  to  stand  the  echo  of  the  boast : 
"  I  love  Alexander  Hamilton.  I  confess  the  passion  and 
its  return.  All  things  are  made  ready  for  his  apprecia 
tion  of  me." 

He  knew  his  wife  had  not  a  gross  element  in  her  nature, 
but  the  bestowal  of  such  an  ethereal  fire  as  hers  upon 
the  altar  of  another  man,  and  that  man  fresh  from  a 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  21 T 

common  amour,  started  the  latent  aristocracy  of  Joe's 
nature. 

The  wife's  aristocracy  was  started,  too,  in  that  the  holy 
right  of  charity  was  impugned  in  her  and  possibly  ac 
credited  to  a  meaner  impulse. 

"  Mother,  I  hate  to  see  Joe  so  silent,  but  I  cannot 
speak." 

"  There  will  be  a  time,  daughter,  when  his  heart  will 
break  for  thee.  Then  be  thy  heart  all  ready  and  take  his 
upon  it,  and  let  your  tears  flow  upon  each  other." 

That  time  almost  came  when  Harry  Priestley  died. 

To  the  last  he  panted  for  the  story  of  the  espoused  Vir 
gin  of  Nazareth,  who  feared  the  angel's  salutation  :  "Hail, 
thou  that  art  highly  favored  !  " 

"  Highly  favored  !  "  sighed  the  boy.     "  So  is  she." 

"  And  Mary  was  troubled  in  her  mind  at  such  a  saying 
and  its  manner,  but  the  angel  said  :  '  Fear  not,  Mary  !  ' 

"  Fear  not,  my  suffering  love !  "  the  boy  repeated  to 
his  mother. 

" '  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the 
power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee.'  And  Mary 
said  :  '  God  hath  regarded  my  low  estate  :  He  hath  scat 
tered  the  proud  and  exalted  them  of  low  degree  !  ' 

"  So  may  Maria  overcome  her  enemies,  mother.  Oh! 
where  is  the  farm  I  cleared  for  that  dear  image  ?  The 
bushes  will  grow  over  it,  and  she  cannot  find  my  grave. " 

"  Son,  the  voice  of  Mary's  Son  can  find  thee  out,  and 
bring  all  true  hearts  together.  There  is  a  trump  to 
blow,  and  we  shall  hear  it  and  come  forth." 

"  No,"  answered  the  boy,  whose  eyes  were  glazing  as 
they  all  stood  around  him.  "  I'll  not  have  Maria  called. 
She  and  I  shall  lie  still,  and  the  wild  roots  shall  grow 
from  me  to  her  like  our  hands  that  were  always  together. 
We  want  rest,  and  that  shall  be  heaven." 

"  Harry,  I  will  not  be  long  after  thee,  my  boy,  if  thou 
art  to  go." 

"  Let  Maria  and  me  stay  behind  when  all  the  rest  are 
rising,  and  ours  shall  be  this  gift  of  the  earth  and  the 
life  we  have  lived.  It  is  all  we  want.  You  never  liked. 
Maria,  friends.  Why  are  we  all  divided  because  a  poor 
girl  is  loved  by  one  of  us  ?  " 

"  My  son,  love  is  the  cause  of  our  being.  God  so 
loved  the  world " 


212  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  That  is  it,"  said  the  boy.  "  This  world  was  beautiful 
as  Maria.  The  radiant  eye  of  God  fell  on  it,  and  all  the 
mire  and  mud  gave  way  to  flowers  and  herbage.  Oh, 
how  I  loved  my  farm  !  " 

His  sob  was  so  mighty  now  that  it  was  echoed  in  all 
hearts,  and  the  room  was  the  wailing  place  of  blood 
kin. 

"  My  farm  !  "  exclaimed  the  boy.  "  I  fought  for  it, 
father,  against  weeds  and  woods  and  rains  and  washes. 
Oh  !  I  knew  it, — every  clod.  My  ploughshare  broke  its 
enemies  to  pieces.  It  killed  me,  but  it  was  to  be  my 
home  and  the  castle  of  my  love." 

Father,  family  stood  round,  and  felt  the  pathos  of  this 
earthly  toil  which  makes  one  spot  so  dear  that  heaven  is 
bare  without  it. 

"  Can't  I  find  my  farm  in  heaven  ? "  wandered  Harry. 
"  Oh  !  heaven  is  all  made,  and  /  made  my  farm.  There  is 
the  stall  where  the  poor  Maid  lay.  All  the  wise  men 
peeped  in.  The  cows  and  calves  and  plough-horses  are 
mounching,  and  I  see  thei-r  great,  calm  eyes.  What  is  it 
yonder,  mother,  streaming  in  my  barn  with  light  so  soft 
and  red  ?  Praised  be  the  evening  star  !  Tis  Venus. 
That  is  the  wise  man's  lamp  upon  this  world.  It  tarried 
on  my  farm  and  was  my  star  of  Bethlehem  to  me,  be 
cause  its  beams  seemed  my  Maria's  eyes." 

The  pulse  was  almost  done.  The  fever  had  burnt  the 
poor  human  furnace  to  the  ribs.  His  feet  were  cold. 

"Let  me  rest  here,  forever,  in  the  new  world,"  the  boy 
sighed,  "  by  my  own  farm — beneath  the  star  of  Mary — 
which  was  love.  Forgive  her — all." 

There  was  a  pause  to  see  if  the  pulse  had  ticked  the 
spring  of  life  away.  Then  rose  the  mother's  cry — the 
same  from  Indian,  black,  or  Saxon,  where  Rachel  is  weep 
ing  for  her  children,  and  will  not  be  comforted: 

"  O  my  God  !     My  baby's  dead  !  " 

The  little  quartette  of  grief  struck  all  at  once  the 
strings  of  music  in  their  throats,  and  around  the  pale 
blue  form  played  the  fountains  of  unavailing  tears.  The 
voice  of  the  father,  whose  literary  nature  was  tempered 
coldest,  recovered  the  first,  saying: 

"  Let  us  pray  !  " 

And  so,  kneeling,  he  who  had  analyzed  the  air  was 
impotent  and  ignorant  as  a  child  of  the  mystery  of  life 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  2Ig 

that    was  here  an  instant    ago    and    now    is  gone — and 
where  ? 

Mrs.  Priestley  never  recovered  from  Harry's  death. 
She  wrote  Mrs.  Reynolds  a  letter,  and  received  a  con 
trite  reply  from  New  York,  which  said  : 

"  NEW  YORK. 

"DEAR  MADAME: — I heard  of  HaTs  death  with  sorring  tears.  In 
deed  I  loved  him  as  a  brut  her.  That  he  spoke  of  me  to  the  last  -was 
butifnl  and  strange — me,  so  unfortnit  !  Could  I  have  loved  a  good 
man,  iuho  would  have  kerected  my  faults,  I  might  have  done  some 
good.  Mrs.  Priestley,  some  of  us  is  not  held  to  the  same  account  as 
ethers,  because  we  are  temtid  more.  I  hope  there  is  a  Jesis  for  us  all. 
That  name  was  for  the  good  and  bad.  Excuse  my  bad  quill,  and  be 
lieve  me, 

"  PENNYTENT  MARIA." 

As  Mary  Priestley  put  her  affairs  in  order  to  lie  be 
side  her  son  in  the  town  graveyard,  she  omitted  not 
one  provision  before  she  lay  her  down.  To  the  last 
this  world  and  not  the  next  was  the  subject  of  her  hus 
bandry.  To  that  unknown  land  she  looked,  with  the 
dark  hand  of  fate  upon  her,  like  the  great  poet's  meta 
phor  : 

"  There's  husbandry  in  heaven, 
Its  candles  all  are  out." 

With  life  wasting,  she  saw  that  nothing  was  wasted 
else. 

4<  These  are  your  Joe's  woollens,  Lizzie,  and  those  my 
Joe's,"  she  would  say  nearly  every  day,  going  over  the 
household  blendings.  "  Daughter,  my  Joe  will  be  alone. 
My  daughter  Sarah  can't  come  over;  she  has  marriage 
troubles,  too.  If  you  can't  stay  with  father,  take  him 
back  to  England  with  you.  That  is  my  pain.  I  do  not 
fear  my  Maker.  He  is  better  than  his  preachers,  and 
gives  us  all  this  holy  pain  to  increase  this  life's  elixir. 
Praise  him  to  have  lived  !  Trust  him  when  we  die  !  " 

"  Mother,  those  hammers  plague  you,  building  our 
new  house." 

"  Lizzie,  you  think  they  remind  me  of  nailing  my 
coffin  up?  Yes;  but  that  is  an,  enduring  house.  I 
always  loved  the  ground  and  the  grass.  If  it  was  the 
Lord's  will,  I  could  lie  undisturbed  forever,  making  the 
earth  green  and  flowery  for  others.  My  religion  was 
to  serve,  because  I  had  been  blessed  to  love.  O  my 


214  MRS-    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Joe  !  I  have  been  married  to  him  nearly  thirty-four 
years.  What  a  poor  child  he  is,  with  all  his  knowl 
edge  !  " 

The  hammers  of  the  new  house  were  driving  many 
nails. 

"  I  shall  never  live  there/'  said  the  dying  wife.  "  But, 
Joe,  I  shall  never  haunt  your  house,  though  sometimes  I 
hope  you  will  haunt  mine.  No  ;  I  shall  never  do  you 
any  harm.  Live  out  your  days,  and  come  and  lie  by 
me.  We  are  too  old  to  change  our  habits  now.  Go  on 
and  finish  your  house  ;  think  that  my  wishes  hover  over 
it,  for  I  shall  have  no  spirit  but  love." 

To  her  son  Joe  she  one  day  said  : 

"  Son,  here  are  some  letters  I  request  you  not  to  open 
till  I  am  buried.  I  could  tell  you,  Joe,  all  that  concerns 
you  about  Colonel  Hamilton  and  your  wife.  They  say 
women  cannot  keep  secrets.  Oh  !  what  severity  and  mis 
take  !  How  many  thousands  of  poor  mothers  have  been 
the  only  ones  to  know  of  a  daughter's  ruin,  a  son's  dis 
grace,  and  never  spoke  !  I  tell  you  that  your  wife  is 
only  interested  in  another  man  because  she  is  better  than 
most  other  women  !  My  son,  I  will  bear  testimony  to 
women.  Few  of  them  are  wicked.  I  shall  leave  you  to 
your  wife  in  peace." 

To  Mr.  Cooper  she  one  day  said  : 

"  Tommy,  my  sons  and  you  were  friends,  and  so  I 
never  quarrelled  with  you  ;  but  you  are  of  a  bold  and 
eager  spirit,  and  my  husband  is  a  poor  preacher  and 
teacher.  Do  go  away  from  him,  and  not  embroil  him 
with  this  country  !  What  do  you  know  about  govern 
ment,  ungovernable  Tommy  Cooper  ?  Must  the  furious 
rule  the  peaceful?  Go  to  Kentucky,  or  Virginia,  or 
Carolina,  and  let  Joseph  Priestley  alone  !  " 

But  Mr.  Cooper  had  now  got  hold  of  a  newspaper 
partly  his  own,  and  was  shaking  up  things  and  puffing 
Doctor  Priestley  in  every  number,  so  that  his  scorners 
confounded  him  with  Priestley. 

The  doctor  was  to  dedicate  his  new  work,  "  The  His 
tory  of  the  Christian  Church,"  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  now 
and  then  addressed  him  as  his  "venerated  friend." 

The  autumn  day  came  when  Mary  Priestley  was  to 
die.  They  saw  her  bright  eye  ranging,  not  for  angels  nor 
portents,  but  for  omitted  earthly  trifles  to  make  her  house 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  215 

orderly  when  she  was  gone,  and  once  she  said,  in  whis 
pers  : 

"  Lizzie,  be  careful  when  you  dust  father's  work- 
table  !  These  literary  men  are  womanish,  and  have  an 
order  of  their  own  which  often  seems  to  us  disorder. 
Study  their  method,  for  everybody  has  some.  You  can 
lead  a  man  if  you  study  him.  Lead,  my  darling,  but 
never  drive  !  Horses  are  to  be  driven  ;  give  the  reins  to 
men,  and  then  you  can  persuade  them  where  to  drive." 

She  was  very  low,  and  made  a  motion  with  her  eye 
lash.  The  family  leaned  over  and  heard  her  sigh  : 

"  Have  I  forgotten  anything  ?  " 

There  was  a  spasm,  or  a  catching  of  breath,  and  the 
tears  of  them  to  live  began  to  flow,  when  out  of  the 
wandering  soul  in  the  dark  and  tangled  footpath  toward 
silence  came  the  dying  words  : 

"  No  rioters — no  contention — peace." 

"  O  Lizzie  !  "  cried  Joe,  "  mother  is  gone." 

She  caught  him  in  her  arms,  and  said  : 

"Joe,  I  will  be  wife  and  mother  to  you  as  long  as  I 
live.  I  will  stay  with  father  faithfully,  as  if  mother  were 
still  here." 

"I  shall  never  hear  her  footstep  in  my  house,"  Doctor 
Priestley  cried.  "  My  house  will  miss  her  till  I  die." 

The  nails  were  being  driven  gayly  that  day  in  the  great 
new  house  of  Joseph  Priestley,  for  it  must  be  closed  in 
before  the  frost. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

BELL  AND  BOOK 

WHEN  Hamilton  had  returned  to  Philadelphia  from 
the  Western  insurrection  he  was  distressed  at  the  appear 
ance  of  his  wife. 

She  had  a  young  babe,  and  he  had  supposed  her  to  be 
at  her  father's,  in  the  high  parts  of  New  York  ;  on  the 
contrary,  she  came  in  a  friend's  carriage  to  the  Schuyl- 
kill  ferry,  and  when  he  embraced  and  kissed  her  she 
fainted  in  his  arms. 

Remorse,  love,  pity  worked  in  Hamilton's  thoughts, 
for  his  Eliza  was  not  a  fainting  spirit.  In  the  camp  she 


2l6  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

had  been  a  steady  soldier  when  the  British,  lying  in  front 
of  the  Jerseys,  had  constantly  menaced  the  freezing  army, 
and  alarms  came  almost  nightly. 

Reared  to  be  a  housekeeper  by  a  good  Dutch  cultiva 
tor's  wife,  Eliza  had  never  complained  of  poverty,  but 
delighted  to  go  into  the  kitchen  and  keep  her  servants 
cheerful,  for  Alexander  might  be  expected  to  bring  an 
army  friend  to  eat  almost  every  day.  Though  the  Feder 
alists  were  called  aristocrats,  their  wives,  almost  uni 
formly,  were  housekeepers,  while  what  were  called  the 
Republicans  talked  French  politics  and  depended  upon 
slaves.  Hamilton  wondered  if  his  retirement  from  office 
and  official  salary  had  caused  his  wife  to  fear. 

No  ;  she  desired  to  go  to  New  York  and  have  him 
begin  the  practice  of  law. 

"  My  darling,  what  ails  you  ?"  asked  Hamilton. 

"Nothing." 

"  Yes,  it  is  more  like  everything  than  nothing.  This  is 
not  the  Eliza  I  left.  Don't  you  love  this  last  little  babe  ? " 

"  As  much  as  any,  and  each  the  same  as  all." 

"  Sweet  girl,  give  me  a  little  bit  of  confidence.  What 
is  your  pain  like  ? " 

"Loneliness." 

"  What  can  I  bring  to  help  it  ? " 

"Truth." 

He  looked  at  her  wonderingly. 

"Ask  me  no  more,"  she  breathed,  and  seemed  to  trem 
ble.  "You  are  cunning-witted  and  will  make  me  pro 
claim  a  woe  that  is  my  cross  and  my  crown." 

"  You  are  not  in  a  religious  daze,  dear  wife  ? " 

"  I  must  go  to  my  babe,"  answered  Eliza,  for  they  had 
reached  the  little  house  at  Third  Street  and  Walnut. 

"My  angel,  my  gift  of  strength  and  peace!"  said 
Hamilton,  with  fervor,  "  if  I  have  left  you  lonely  I  will 
never  do  so  again.  Not  even  my  country,  not  Washing 
ton,  shall  take  me  from  your  side.  I  will  labor  for 
our  children,  and  as  we  sat  up  together  in  the  camp  and 
I  worked  half  the  night  in  your  sight,  I  will  sit  with  you 
again  over  my  law  books,  and  my  library  shall  be  our 
bed-chamber,  where  I  can  hear  you  breathe." 

"  O  Alexander  !  there  is  an  echo  of  something  I  miss 
in  your  voice.  You  shall  never  miss  it  in  mine." 

He  thought  over  her  strange  reference  to  Truth. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  2 IJ 

"  Does  that  give  an  echo  ? "  Hamilton  asked  himself. 
"  There  may  be  in  the  responsive  heart  of  love  a-  real 
echo,  and  when  we  conceal  or  deceive,  our  voices  will  not 
wake  it.  O  that  I  could  bare  my  bosom  and  tell  my 
one  mutiny  from  this  household  perfection  !  But  we 
have  children." 

When  they  settled  in  New  York  and  Hamilton  kept 
his  household  promise,  working  faithfully  in  his  house, 
keeping  his  office  there,  and  absent  only  in  court,  he  saw 
no  want  of  interest  in  his  wife,  but  sometimes  too  much 
interest — a  kind  of  excitability  that  seemed  the  ecstasy 
of  love  with  irrational  fears  to  ferment  it. 

"  Eliza,  are  you  jealous  ?  " 

"  Sir,  do  you  suppose  I  have  so  little  self-respect  as  to 
entertain  that  ? " 

She  was  a  slight  little  woman,  with  more  soul  than 
body,  and  the  courage  of  blended  provincial  families  that 
excels  all  peerage  pride — the  pride  of  the  barons  before 
the  crown  subdues  them  to  be  mere  peers.  In  her  was 
the  blood  of  Rensselaers,  of  Livingstons,  also — whence 
her  injury  had  come — of  the  Van  Cortlandts,  and  more. 

This  New  York  pride,  kept  self-conscious  by  the 
swarming  of  all  ranks  and  increasing  parvenue  riches  to 
New  York,  was  in  Eliza  Hamilton  elevated  by  the  uni 
versal  appreciation  of  her  husband's  intellect. 

She  had  fallen  in  love  with  the  unrelated,  unallied 
staff  captain  and  married  him,  opposite  to  the  habit  of 
her  considering  family,  and  he  had  become  the  public 
genius  of  the  country.  It  was  the  State  saying  that 
"  the  Clintons  had  offices  and  power,  the  Livingstons 
lands  and  connections,  and  the  Schuylers  had  Hamil 
ton." 

This  little  West  India  man  with  the  wax-and-rose 
skin  and  high  head  and  small,  perfect  body,  had  become 
the  head  of  the  Schuyler  power,  the  preservative  limb 
of  their  family  tree,  her  father's  chief  elector  to  the 
Senate  ;  and  he  had  made  the  nation  rich  and  disdained 
helping  himself.  Now  he  was  measuring  that  talent 
with  other  men,  and  laying  himself  at  the  bar  beside  the 
adroit  Colonel  Burr  and  the  money-winning  lawyers. 

Every  child  she  bore,  Eliza  felt  to  be  another  Hamil 
ton,  the  only  seed  of  that  rare  and  solitary  exotic  in  the 
United  States. 


2l8  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

She  watched  the  prince  who  had  dropped  down  to  her 
heart  from  floral  land  with  the  love  that  was  almost 
sacred,  and  she  knew,  as  well,  that  if  he  ever  felt  "  virtue 
go  out  of  him,"  like  another  divine  Teacher,  it  would  be 
at  woman's  touch.  For  Hamilton  was  ardent  as  husband 
and  lover,  with  a  warm  intellect,  and  his  nervous  con 
tents  were  electrical,  receiving  as  well  as  giving  cur 
rents  of  life  and  admiration. 

"  Can  she  doubt  me  ?  "  thought  Hamilton  ;  "  is  there 
a  second-sight  in  such  love  as  hers,  that  perceives  me 
and  is  dumb  ?" 

He  felt  this  superstition  the  more  when  one  day,  on 
Wall  Street,  he  and  his  wife  came  upon  Colonel  Aaron 
Burr,  with  a  large  lady  upon  his  arm. 

Colonel  Burr  looked  straight  at  Mrs.  Hamilton  with 
all  his  piercing  quality  and  ever-attuned  dignity,  but 
Mrs.  Hamilton  only  saw  his  companion  woman  drop  her 
eyes  at  the  recognition  of  her  husband  and  blush. 

"  Who — who  is  that  lady,  Alexander  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  you  do  not  want  to  know  her,  Eliza.  That  is 
a  Mrs.  Clingman,  who  is  said  to  be  living  with  Colonel 
Burr." 

"  Do  you  know  her,  sir,  then  ?  " 

"Yes,"  replied  Hamilton.  "  In  the  past  I  have  met 
her." 

"  I  hope  never  to  see  her  again,"  remarked  Eliza. 

This  bright  little  creature,  indeed,  was  the  complete 
balance  and  remainder  of  Hamilton,  making  him  at  union 
with  himself.  As  she  sat  like  the  queen  bee  in  the  hive, 
he  was  a  working  member,  composed  by  her  presence  ; 
when  she  was  gone  he  dropped  his  tools  and  became  a 
rover  through  the  fields  of  sun.  It  was  in  such  an  absence 
that  the  soldier  forgot  his  arms  and  became  a  forager  in 
the  neutral  lines. 

Eliza  had  a  spice,  also,  of  daring  like  her  own  lover's 
character.  The  Schuylers,  no  more  than  other  people, 
were  uniformly  proof  to  human  and  individual  impulses. 

Though  one  sister  was  married  to  the  patroon  of  Al 
bany,  and  others  were  already,  or  were  to  be,  very  con 
siderately  married,  now  and  then  one  took  the  bit  between 
her  teeth  oefore  the  old  general  could  consult  and  de 
termine.  There  was  Angelica,  who  had  walked  around 
the  corner  with  a  fine  merchant  army  contractor,  Mr. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  219 

Carter,  and  returned  Mrs.  Church,  her  husband,  for  fam 
ily  reasons  in  England,  having  concealed  his  American 
identification. 

Th£  incentive  of  love  is  never  remote  in  a  capable 
family,  and  Eliza  Schuyler,  who  had  taken  the  greatest 
risk,  was  married  in  the  chiefest  honor.  Four  sons  and 
a  daughter  were  already  of  their  brood,  and  little  Phil, 
whom  Washington  had  nursed,  was  now  fifteen. 

Suddenly  a  new  assault  was  made  upon  Colonel  Ham 
ilton,  after  he  had  been,  as  he  supposed,  completely 
separated  and  absolved  from  his  one  truantry. 

A  book  was  one  day  put  into  his  hand  with  the  title 
of  "  The  History  of  the  United  States  for  1796."  It  was 
written  by  Callender,  the  Scotch  slanderer,  and  related 
the  commencement  of  Hamilton's  troubles  with  Reynolds 
and  wife  and  Clingman  years  before,  but  only  in  a  way 
to  mystify  that  intrigue  and  convert  some  private  letters, 
now  for  the  first  time  published,  into  evidences  of  Secre 
tary  Hamilton  having  divided  money  with  James  Rey 
nolds. 

Hamilton  had  paid  Reynolds,  through  *  Clingman's 
manoeuvring  of  Reynolds  and  wife,  about  eleven  hundred 
dollars,  nominally  borrowed,  but  artfully  exacted. 

In  this  present  publication  the  woman  was  kept  well 
out  of  sight,  and  the  bare  fact  of  the  money  being  paid 
to  Reynolds  was  confirmed  by  letters  from  Muhlenberg, 
the  patron  of  Clingman,  from  Monroe  and  another,  who 
had  joyously  formed  a  cabal  to  investigate  the  impreg 
nable  Hamilton.  All  this  had  happened  two  years  before 
Doctor  Priestley  arrived  in  America. 

In  that  investigation  Aaron  Burr  had  also  played  a 
part,  without  distinctly  understanding  the  female  impli 
cation.  Speaker  Muhlenberg  had  desired  to  get  his  sub 
altern,  Jake  Clingman,  out  of  jail,  and  Monroe  had  been 
the  tool  of  Jefferson  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 

The  shameless  Giles,  the  public  insulter  of  Washington, 
a  Virginia  Congressman,  had  at  that  time  accused  Hamil 
ton  of  Treasury  peculations,  but  the  secretary's  honesty 
and  address  had  proved  triumphant. 

Without  flinching,  Hamilton  had  kept  both  Reynolds 
and  Clingman  in  prison  for  fraud  upon  his  department, 
though  the  unsoldierly  Monroe  had  sneaked  to  Mrs. 
Reynolds  and  sounded  her,  and  had  procured  the  des- 


220  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

perate  Clingman  to  make  the  charge  that  Reynolds  was 
Hamilton's  broker,  while  his  clerk,  to  speculate  in  the 
funds. 

At  that  commencement  of  his  miseries  Hamilton  bhrew 
himself  upon  the  generosity  of  his  opponents,  and  by  the 
display  of  the  letters  of  Reynolds  and  wife  to  Muhlen- 
berg  and  Monroe,  showed  those  comrades  that  he  had 
been  a  victim  of  blackmail,  and  had  paid  Reynolds  not 
to  speculate,  but  to  spare  his  domestic  peace. 

Alas  !  those  letters  of  Reynolds  and  wife  were  now  in 
Jefferson's  hands.  Hamilton  no  longer  had  the  means 
to  protect  himself  from  the  public  charge  by  proving  the 
private  error. 

As  if  aware  of  his  helplessness,  the  Callender  slander 
made  light  of  the  real  issue,  and  said  that  Hamilton  had 
invented  a  pretended  amour  with  Reynolds'  wife  to  hide 
his  payments  of  a  speculator's  commissions  to  that  clerk. 

By  this  perversion  the  statement  and  letters  of  Monroe 
and  Co.,  and  bits  of  notes  between  Reynolds  and  Hamil 
ton,  were  made,  in  the  "  History  "  of  Callender,  to  con 
firm  the  old  exploded  charge  of  Hamilton's  public  specu 
lations. 

He  saw  that  a  crisis  had  come. 

His  wife  must  be  faced  ;  his  family  life  would  prob 
ably  end  or  lose  forever  its  serenity  and  exist  in  ever 
lasting  distrust  and  contention. 

The  baseness  of  Monroe  in  betraying  these  papers, 
after  giving  his  pledge  of  honor  as  a  man  of  the  world 
and  a  soldier — adding  to  them,  indeed,  by  other  writings 
of  an  imputative  sort— gave  to  Hamilton's  despair  the 
anger  of  battle. 

He  knew  that  Jefferson  was  the  malign  prompter  of 
both  Callender  and  Monroe  ;  but  Jefferson  was  a  well 
understood  non-combatant,  so  advertised  in  the  proceed 
ings  of  his  legislature,  and  an  object  of  literary  and  philo 
sophic  sympathy,  as  one  who  mi§ht  insinuate  and  stab, 
but  could  not  strike. 

Monroe,  however,  had  been  an  officer,  if  an  obscure 
one.  He  was  the  only  anti-Federalist  in  the  Virginia  set 
of  any  military  pretensions,  and  had  been  running  for 
office  on  his  military  record  ever  since  the  war. 

Hamilton  called  Mr.  Monroe  to  account. 

"It  was  incumbent  upon  you,   sir."  he  wrote,  -"as  a 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  2^1 

man  of  honesty  and  sensibility,  to  have  come  forward  in 
a  manner  that  would  have  shielded  me  completely  from 
the  unpleasant  effects  brought  upon  me  by  your  agency. 
This*  you  have  not  done.  .  .  .  The  result  in  my 
mind  is  that  you  have  been  and  are  actuated  by  motives 
toward  me  malignant  and  dishonorable  ;  nor  can  I  doubt 
that  this  will  be  the  universal  opinion  when  the  publica 
tion  of  the  whole  affair,  which  I  am  about  to  make,  shall 
be  seen." 

Muhlenberg,  a  Pennsylvania  Dutch  preacher,  in  poli 
tics  one  of  the  Mifflin  men,  hastened  to  back  out.  Mon 
roe's  Virginia  ally  felt  ashamed  of  himself  and  apolo 
gized. 

But  Monroe  had  just  come  back  from  the  French  mis 
sion  in  disgrace,  and  had  been  accused  of  selling  his 
country's  interests  to  the  French  jockeys  of  the  "  Direc 
tory  "  for  a  bribe.  Not  destitute  of  courage,  though  it 
was  courage  without  quality,  he  had  plunged  like  a 
country  bull  into  Mr.  Jefferson's  net,  who  incited  him  to 
write  a  book  and  attack  Washington  directly. 

He  was  not  a  party  to  this  attack  of  Callender's.  Mr. 
Jefferson  had  the  whole  credit  of  that. 

Nor  was  Monroe  a  corrupt,  though  a  very  professional, 
politician. 

His  sense  of  injuries,  his  smarting  under  Hamilton's 
raking  pen— probably,  also,  his  conceit  at  being  made  so 
much  of  by  the  luminous  man  of  the  time — impelled  him 
to  solicit  a  challenge  from  Hamilton. 

"  That  man  is  dangerous,  Monroe,"  said  Mr.  Jefferson  ; 
"who  knows  but  he  may  come  here  some  day  and  attack 
me  ! " 

The  Vice- President  was  a  picture  of  apprehension  and 
artfulness,  and  clung  to  his  revenge  with  a  pallid  face. 

"  I  tell  you,"  he  resumed,  "  do  not  fight  him  yourself. 
He  will  be  sure  to  kill  you,  for  he  is  standing  on  family 
ground.  His  wife's  hand  will  be  on  the  trigger.  We 
shall  all  stand  in  history  as  assassins,  if  you  kill  him — 
first  of  his  family  and  then  of  his  life." 

Mr.  Jefferson  trembled. 

u  Pshaw  !  "  exclaimed  Monroe.  "  Have  some  char 
acter,  Mr.  Jefferson  !  A  challenge  is  a  challenge,  and  if 
I  have  made  a  mistake  and  expose  my  life  for  it,  who 
can  take  exception  ? " 


222  MRS.     REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"Send  Colonel  Burr  with  your  challenge,"  observed 
Jefferson,  after  a  long  pause.  "  He  is  one  of  your  cool, 
deadly  Yankee  men.  An  army  man,  too,  jealous  of 
Hamilton  at  the  bar.  An  unscrupulous  fiend  !  You 
were  his  advocate  for  the  French  appointment.  He 
wants  our  Virginia  countenance.  So  shift  the  quarrel  to 
Burr,  as  your  second,  and  then — 

"What?" 

"  If  either  or  both  be  killed,  we  gain." 

Minister  Monroe  looked  at  Jefferson  with  a  hard,  rustic 
stare. 

"  You  can't  understand  my  case,"  he  answered,  grimly. 
"  Old  bulldog  Washington  could  see  it.  There  is  a  thing 
above  politics  called  Honor,  and  on  that  I  stand.  To 
manoeuvre  Burr  into  my  place  would  extend  my  unpopu 
larity  ;  I  could  never  be  governor  of  Virginia." 

Mr.  Jefferson  listened  automatically,  always  cultivating 
coldness  in  formalities  and  crises. 

"  Now,  see  here,"  concluded  Monroe,  "  it  is  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world  for  me  to  satisfy  Hamilton.  That 
book  of  Calender's  was  all  printed  before  I  came  back 
from  France,  so  I  could  not  have  furnished  those  letters 
and  mems.  Do  you  know  why  I  am  ready  to  fight  Ham 
ilton  ? " 

"  To  become  governor  of  Virginia  ?  " 

"  No  ;  to  save  you." 

"Me?" 

"  Yes,  Tom.  Venable  and  Muhlenberg  have  disclaimed 
supplying  Callender  with  these  papers.  If  I  do  the  same, 
Hamilton  uncovers  you,  as  the  only  man  who  could  have 
supplied  them.  He  might  make  you  fight,  or  if  you  de 
clined,  break  you  down  in  Virginia.  I  shall  stand  in  the 
way  and  take  the  blow,  Tom,  for  your  sake,  whatever  it 
is.  I  am  your  only  soldier." 

Mr.  Jefferson  started  very  deliberately  to  rise  and  walk 
to  his  washstand.  He  overdid  the  appearance  of  delib 
eration  ;  for  his  complexion,  ashy  white,  became  deathly 
as  he  stepped  out,  and  he  fell. 

Monroe  caught  him  in  his  arms  and  found  him  insensible. 

"  Fright,  pure  fright !  "  sighed  Monroe.  "  Here  is  a 
man  who  would  have  been  altogether  lovable,  like  a 
woman,  if  he  had  not  taken  up  politics.  Yet  to  him  we 
are  to  commit  our  country  !  " 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  22^ 

He  sprinkled  water  on  Mr.  Jefferson's  face,  and  sup 
ported  him,  kneeling,  with  his  law  instructor's  head  upon 
his  knee. 

"  Wake  up,  my  friend  !  "  gently  called  the  hard  Monroe, 
"  no  harm  shall  come  to  you.  When  I  became  your  fol 
lower  I  felt  for  you  as  for  my  wife  :  that  you  were  made 
to  be  loved  and  protected.  Colonel  Hamilton  will  obtain 
no  explanation  from  me." 

Jefferson  arose  and  tottered  to  the  settee  of  his  lodg 
ings. 

"  Oh  !  if  I  could  restore  those  originals,"  he  sighed, 
"  and  appease  Hamilton  !  But  they  are  at  Monticello, 
and  he  is  fierce." 

Colonel  Burr  did  become  Monroe's  second,  and  had  the 
effrontery  to  call  at  Hamilton's  house  in  Cedar  Street ; 
but  Hamilton  repaired  to  the  law  office  of  a  friend,  and 
there,  with  closed  doors,  received  the  politic  invitation  of 
Monroe  to  send  a  challenge. 

Hamilton  looked  up  and  found  Mr.  Burr  very  curiously 
regarding  him. 

"  Depend  upon  it,  Colonel,"  said  Hamilton,  u  I  shall 
send  Major  Monroe  no  challenge.  I  have  sent  him  a 
chart  of  his  conduct  in  this  affair,  and  if  he  is  willing  to 
make  a  public  test  of  it,  on  the  correspondence,  you  will 
confer  with  Colonel  Jackson." 

"  Hamilton,  he  will  not  stand  upon  his  conduct.  It 
means  nothing  else  than  to  hold  you  between  a  domestic 
exposure  and  a  silence  which  will  be  your  political  con 
fession.  Let  me  serve  you." 

"  I  cannot  let  you  serve  me  in  any  way,  Colonel  Burr. 
I  would  not  even  accept  from  you  the  tender  of  the  letters 
you  took  from  Clingman  and  wife  and  conveyed  to  Mr. 
Monroe,  and  which  are  now,  I  am  morally  sure,  in  Mr. 
Jefferson's  hands." 

Colonel  Burr  was  a  little  surprised,  but  very  steady  and 
ready,  after  he  had  wiped  his  nose  and  replaced  his  white 
handkerchief  in  his  laced  shirt  bosom. 

"  You  are  too  penetrating,  Colonel  Hamilton,  to  make 
it  worth  while  to  deceive  you.  I  thought  it  no  injury 
to  you  to  take  those  letters,  so  fatal  to  your  domestic 
peace,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Clingman  family.  I  put 
them  in  the  hands  of  an  army  comrade  of  ours,  where 
your  honor  would  be  safe,  He  turned  them  over  to 


224  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Jefferson  without  any  examination.  To  be  frank  with 
you,  I  should  have  used  them  in  good  time  to  compel 
that  alliance  I  have  always  sought  with  you — which  I 
still  seek." 

"  It  can  never  be  made,  sir.     Dismiss  the  idea." 

"  It  can,  and  this  is  the  time  for  generalship.  Why  will 
you  be  pursued  in  your  retirement  as  Jefferson  is  pursu 
ing  you,  with  his  filthy  foreign  mercenaries  ?  I  am  the 
man  you  need.  You  will  surely  need  me.  This  moment 
is  our  mutual  opportunity.  Let  us  expose  Jefferson  to 
the  spirit  of  the  Cincinnati  brotherhood  !  " 

"  That  would  seern  an  evasion  of  this  charge  of  Cal- 
lender's  against  me.  I  must  answer  that  before  I  expose 
the  motive  of  my  accusers." 

"  Do  both.  Post  Jefferson  as  your  only  real  enemy, 
the  concocter  of  every  plot  against  you.  Accuse  him  of 
holding  your  letters  from  Reynolds  at  this  moment  ! 
Monroe  and  I  would  have  to  sustain  you  if  you  appealed 
to  us ;  the  result  would  be  that  every  man  of  honor  in 
the  country  would  fly  from  Jefferson.  He  would  be  de 
feated  for  the  Presidency." 

Hamilton  looked  up.  Colonel  Burr  seemed  to  have 
stopped  too  short. 

"  There  might  be  situations  where  I  would  not  want  to 
defeat  Mr.  Jefferson  for  President." 

Colonel  Burr  was  pale,  almost  submissive.  A  look  of 
eagerness,  too,  was  frozen  in  his  face.  He  never  had 
looked  so  perfectly  respectable  as  at  this  minute  to  Ham 
ilton  and  never  was  to  Hamilton  so  wholly  repulsive. 

The  idea  of  this  man  being  President  of  the  United 
States  made  all  other  pretenders  to  that  honor  and  power 
comparatively  acceptable.  The  nation  was  to  Hamilton 
like  an  only  sister,  grown  up  at  his  side  in  beauty  and 
virtue. 

"  To  be  frank,"  continued  Hamilton,  "  I  have  a  real 
regard  for  Mr.  Jefferson's  daughter.  To  stigmatize  her 
father  would  deeply  hurt  her  feelings.  Public  life  does 
not  require  such  incivilities." 

"  Is  that  all  ?  " 

"  No  ;  I  also  pity  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  is  torn  and 
racked  by  ambition;  such  acts  as  this  with  Callender 
encourage  the  vulture  that  feeds  upon  his  vitals.  He 
may  wound  me,  but  he  poisons  himself.  It  is  the  weak- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  225 

ness  of  his  courage  which  leads  him  to  stoop  so  low.  In 
satisfied  conditions  he  might  be  a  safe  ruler.  Many  of 
his  tastes  are  respectable.  Certainly  Tie  is  at  the  head  of 
his  party." 

"  You  are  complimentary." 

"  I  did  not  say  he  was  as  good  a  politician  as  Col 
onel  Burr.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  easily  beaten  him 
where  he  has  set  the  policy.  You  have  not  been  a  French 
Jacobin,  a  whiskey  insurrectionist,  or  in  any  way  a  vola 
tile  leader.  You  might  be  able  to  run  Jefferson  hard  .for 
the  next  Presidential  term." 

"  If  so " 

"I  could  not  support  you,  Colonel  Burr." 

Hamilton  had  been  sitting  by  the  garden  casement; 
Mr.  Burr  was  standing  with  his  tapering-crowned  beaver 
in  his  hand.  His  face  was  passionless  yet  cruel.  The 
intellectual  gifts  of  educators  and  theologians,  prying 
into  the  nature  of  God  with  metaphysical  coolness,  had 
been  punished  by  some  cross  or  curse  in  this  scion,  who 
had  the  small  majesty  of  an  Augustus  Caesar,  and  no 
feelings  but  self-love.  He  was  looking  at  Hamilton  with 
steady  eyes,  as  at  a  problem  in  mathematics. 

"  I  cannot  believe  that  you  would  earry  a  pique  as  far 
as  that,  Hamilton.  Your  wife's  father  and  I  have  alter 
nately  beaten  each  other  ;  in  no  case  have  I  attacked 
you.  Come  !  *  I  make  the  last  concession,  and  give  her 
up." 

"  Her  ?     Whom  ?  " 

"  La  Belle  Livingston." 

"  Your  mistress  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  knew  that  to  be  your  pique  against  me.  She 
is  a  great  concession  to  make  to  you,  but,  like  Zeid,  the 
freedman  of  the  Prophet,  I  feel  for- your  passion,  and  give 
my  noble  Zeinab  to  Mahomet." 

"  Return  Clingman's  wife  to  me  ?  " 

"  I  wonder  at  your  skill,  Hamilton.  My  way  seemed 
the  right  one,  but  yours  works  the  miracle.  Xo  doubt 
your  intuition  has  told  you  that  Reynolds  still  loves 
you." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hamilton  wearily,  "  she  loves  to  subsist 
upon  us  all." 

"  She  tells  me  up  and  down  that  I  bear  no  compari 
son  to  Colonel  Hamilton,  and  were  it  not  for  a  certain 


226  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

piquancy  in  her  resisting  me,  I  might  have  been  jealous. 
To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  the  party  in  love  with  Maria; 
and  yet,  in  view  of  your  immediate  need  of  her  aid,  I 
shall  send  her  to  you  this  night." 

"  Sir  !  " 

"  Yes,  it  is  your  instant  delivery.  None  but  you  could 
have  seen  it.  Maria  will  confirm  your  statement  that  her 
husband  took  advantage  of  your  amour  and  robbed  you 
of  the  very  money  Callender  says  you  paid  him  as  your 
financial  tool." 

u  Colonel  Burr,  your  proposition  is  astounding  !  " 

"  So  are  all  Hamilton's  ruses  de  guerre.  By  heaven  ! 
for  you  Reynolds  would  kneel  to  your  wife  and  swear 
that  you  were  still  the  spotless  pattern  of  a  husband.  I 
tell  you  she  will  come  this  night  with  the  swiftness  of 
a  shooting-star  and  explode  the  magazine  of  Jefferson, 
Callender,  and  Monroe  the  instant  she  strikes  it.  I  shall 
again  be  a  lonely  widower,  but  to  have  made  such  an 
unspeakable  sacrifice  will  incline  to  me  the  heart  of 
Colonel  Hamilton  at  last." 

He  closed  the  door  behind  him  and  left  Hamilton 
speechless  from  the  misinterpretation  of  his  mind. 

Though  Aaron  Burr  had  left  a  loathsome  influence  in 
the  place,  he  had  also  left,  from  the  nature  of  his  char 
acter,  a  moment's  great  temptation. 

Without  the  Reynolds  letters,  what  could  substantiate 
Hamilton's  defence  but  Mrs.  Reynolds  herself. 

Without  her  he  was  empty-handed  ;  with  her  he  could 
face  the  world  and  his  wife. 

She  would  swear  to  Mrs.  Hamilton  that  an  infatuation 
for  her  husband  had  lent  Mrs.  Reynolds  to  join  a  con 
spiracy  which  was  now  turned  against  Hamilton's  public 
character,  and  which  she  would  dissipate  from  the  sense 
of  penitence  and  honor. 

As  the  evolution  of  this  path  of  cunning  permeated 
the  upright  soul  of  Hamilton,  he  folded  his  arms  and 
looked  off  into  the  infinite  space  where  the  finite  being 
conjectures  the  Ruler  of  justice  to  be. 

"  Almighty  Author  of  good  and  sorrow  !  "  exclaimed 
Hamilton,  "  stern  was  thy  law  to  spare  not  them  which 
taught  their  abominations  to  wandering  Israel.  For  years 
I  have  been  lost  in  this  wilderness  of  deceit,  and  shall  I 
now  be  directed  by  a  lie,  even  to  save  my  blameless 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

family  ?  No  ;  there  is  no  end  to  double-dealing.  Jeffer 
son  and  Burr  shall  see  that  I  will  not  lie  ;  my  adopted 
country  shall  learn  that  I  do  not  steal.  I  can  leave  this 
land  if  my  family  cast  me  out,  and  take  a  broken  heart 
to  my  poor  old  father  in  the  Isle  of  Nevis." 

As  he  returned  to  his  house  two  letters  were  put  in  his 
hand.  He  sat  down  among  his  family  to  read  them.  The 
first  letter  was  postmarked  Northumberland,  and  it  said  : 

"DEAR  FRIEND: — My  husband  has  put  in  my  hand  the  book 
which  charges  Hamilton  with  a  secret  speculation.  It  is  the  time 
for  you  to  declare  the  truth  and  shame  the  fiend. 

"  I  beseech  you  not  to  let  others  prevaricate  now  and  continue  you 
in  this  maze  of  folly.  Cry  aloud,  Hamilton,  and  receive  the  blow  ! 
It  will  soon  be  over.  Let  no  mistaken  mercy  set  loose  upon  society 
the  tigers  which  have  drunk  your  blood.  This  is  the  supplication  to 
her  friend  of  LIZZIE  PRIESTLEY." 

Mrs.  Hamilton  had  raised  the  enclosure  from  the 
carpet  and  read  the  postmark.  Her  black  eyes  were 
either  quizzical  or  flashing. 

"Northumberland,"  she  said,  ''and  a  woman's  hand? 
Alexander,  can  this  be  the  daughter  of  Doctor  Priestley, 
whose  tete-a-tete  with  you  I  disturbed  at  Mrs.  Bingham's 
garden-party  ? " 

"  It  is  the  hand  of  an  angel."  exclaimed  Hamilton,  for 
getful  of  the  jealousy  he  might  inspire. 

He  broke  the  next  letter's  seal. 

There  fell  into  his  hand  a  bundle  of  papers  and  scraps. 

"  Charlottesville  ?  "  spoke  Mrs.  Hamilton,  raising  the 
enclosure.  "  Here  also  is  a  woman's  handwriting.  Sir, 
it  is  time  you  explained  all  this  secret  correspondence." 

Hamilton  was  reading  the  letter  with  wondering  eyes. 
It  said  : 

"  MONTICELLO. 

"  DEAR  HAMILTON  : — For  a  long  time  I  have  preserved  the  con 
tents  of  this  packet,  though  several  times  moved  to  destroy  it. 

''  Having  possessed  myself  of  it  when  it  was  about  to  be  used  to 
your  injury,  I  feared  to  mail  it  to  you  for  two  reasons.  .It  might 
be  opened  by  my  dear  friend  Eliza.  And  I  did  not  think  you  would 
be  otherwise  than  unhappy,  Hamilton,  to  know  that  I  was  aware  of 
your  sin. 

"  If  I  send  you  the  packet  now,  it  is  from  an  instinct  that  you  will 
need  it.  Receive  \vith  it  the  forgiveness  of  your  friend,  for  friend 
ship  like  mine  is  almost  as  much  wounded  by  an  infidelity  as  a  wife's 
love. 

"  Hamilton,   you    deceive  your  wife   by  avoiding   a  confession. 


228  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

Good  women  love  to  forgive  a  mortal  wound.  If  she  is  proud, 
remember  the  divine  nature  in  yourself  and  walk  bravely  to  your 
cross  and  die  for  that. 

"  In  consideration  of  my  feelings  for  you  and  yours,  do  not  insult 
my  father ! 

"  If  we  meet  not  here  again,  through  earthly  contentions,  I  believe 
that  we  shall  meet  in  a  realm  without  night,  where  we  shall  be 
washed  and  made  white  in  the  Lamb's  blood. 

"Adieu,  Hamilton. 

"  MARTHA  JEFFERSON  RANDOLPH." 

As  Hamilton  raised  his  eyes,  with  tears  flowing  from 
them,  he  sighed  : 

"  *  And  there  followed  Him  women  which  also  bewailed 
and  lamented  him.'  Eliza,  you  are  welcome  to  read 
these  letters.  Will  you  do  so  ?  " 

"  No  ;  my  help  is  limited  to  your  public  correspond 
ence,  sir." 

"  To-night,  Eliza,  I  shall  sit  by  your  bed  and  write  all 
the  night  long." 

"  That  is  nothing  new,  husband." 

"  Yes,  Eliza,  it  will  be  all  new  this  night.  The  truth  is 
always  new." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CONFESSION. 

WITH  no  feeling  of  self-righteousness,  nor  yet  with  the 
confidence  of  an  acute  purpose,  did  Hamilton  draw  his1 
table  to  the  window  in  the  warm  summer  night  and  screen 
it  from  the  many  strollers  in  the  little  street. 

The  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Broad 
way  and  Cedar  Street,  was  attracting  people  to  its  revival. 
New  York  was  then  a  cape  city,  full  of  gardens  and 
churches,  sloping  toward  the  side  rivers  and  their  bay. 
with  ponds  and  creeks  above  the  city  park  or  common  ; 
and  some  fifty  thousand  souls  were  gathered  on  the  tip 
of  that  extensive  island  like  flies  on  a  sturgeon's  nose. 

-"What,  then,  is  man  ?"  sighed  Hamilton,  lighting  his 
candles  and  taking  up  his  pen. 

The  phrase  recalled  old  John  of  Barnevelt,  projector 
of  this  colony,  as  he  had  been  brought  forth  to  die.  Other 
grisly  phantoms  came  also  to  Hamilton's  discouraged 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  229 

mind.  He  thought  of  Eugene  Aram  forty  years  before, 
executed  for  a  murder  that  had  been  done  fourteen  years 
and  forgotten,  until  the  murderer's  false  wife,  who  had 
caused  the  crime,  disinterred  the  body  of  her  paramour, 
and  accused  her  husband. 

Hamilton  took  up  his  quill. 

"  Perhaps  this  instrument  of  my  exaltation  will  now 
console  my  humility,"  he  said,  and  put  the  point  to  the 
paper. 

Instantly  he  began  to  think  clearly  and  to  see  his  way, 
as  if  a  finger-board  guided  him. 

As  the  Pointers  in  the  Bear  go  round  the  Pole  Star  and 
take  the  solar  system  with  them,  so  the  infinite  issues  in 
Hamilton's  mind  took  order  and  ran  to  his  pen's  point. 
He  felt  the  whole  nation  to  be  before  him  and  the  host 
in  the  heavens  looking  down. 

The  truth,  justice  to  his  family,  example  to  his  country, 
proportion,  sensibility,  suffering,  candor,  manhood,  drew 
all  together,  and  he  heard  the  bell  of  Trinity  strike  eight 
as  he  commenced  : 

"  The  spirit  of  Jacobinism,  if  not  entirely  a  new  spirit,  has,  at 
least,  been  cloathed  with  a  more  gigantic  body  and  armed  -with  more 
powerful  weapons  than  it  ever  before  possessed. 

"  Incessantly  busied  in  undermining  all  the  props  of  public  security 
and  private  happiness,  it  seems  to  threaten  the  political  and  moral 
world  with  a  complete  overthrow. 

"  A  principal  engine  by  which  this  spirit  endeavours  to  accomplish 
its  purposes  is  calumnv. 

"  It  is  essential  to  its  success  that  the  influence  of  men  of  up 
right  principles,  disposed  and  able  to  resist  its  enterprises,  shall  be  at 
+all  events  destroyed.  Not  content  with  traducing  their  best  efforts 
for  the  public  good,  with  misrepresenting  their  purest  motives,  with 
inferring  criminality  from  actions  innocent  or  laudable,  the  most  di 
rect  falsehoods  are  invented-  and  propagated  with  undaunted  effrontery 
and  unrelenting  perseverance. " 

The  image  of  Mr.  Jefferson  was  in  the  mind  of  Ham 
ilton.  He  blotted  the  next  sentence  out,  lest  it  might 
wound  Martha  Randolph. 

A  titter  was  heard  very  close  to  the  window,  and  little 
whispers. 

u  Pa,"  spoke  the  voice  of  son  Phil,  'k  here's  Theo 
Burr.  I  have  brought  her  down  from  Richmond  Hill." 

"  Children,  you  must  excuse  me  to-night.  I  am  deeply 
busy." 


230  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

They  were  already  gone. 

Something  dropped  in  the  open  casement  behind  the 
screen.  Hamilton  stooped  forward  and  picked  up  a  copy 
of  Calender's  book  containing  the  charge  against  him. 

"  It  must  have  been  intended  for  my  wife,  as  this  is 
next  to  her  chamber,  and  is  her  sitting-room,"  thought 
Hamilton. 

"  Father,"  noted  Mrs.  Hamilton,  coming  in,  "  I  was 
bowing  the  shutter  above  when  I  saw  Colonel  Burr 
and  the  fine  brunette  woman  you  call  Clingman  come 
past.  It  seemed  to  me  that  Burr  pushed  something  in 
your  window." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  another  publication  of  the  Faction. 
Do  you  want  to  read  it,  and  see  how  bad  a  public  man  I 
am?" 

"  Yes,  I  will  take  it  to  bed.  The  night  is  warm  and 
the  mosquitoes  bite  the  baby.  I  can  look  at  you  as  you 
are  at  work,  and  say,  '  God  bless  you,  Alexander  !  " 

"  In  the  morning,  Eliza,  you  will  know  how  bad  I  am 
every  way." 

The  wife  was  soon  in  bed,  and  the  folding  doors  stood 
open  between  her  chamber  and  the  writing  Hamilton. 
As  she  lay  with  her  face  toward  him,  sometimes  her 
black  lashes  looked  to  be  her  black  eyes  gazing  out.  He 
wrote  again: 

"Lies  often  detected  and  refuted  are  still  revived  and  repeated  in 
the  hope  that  the  refutation  mav  have  been  forgotten,  or  that  the  fre 
quency  and  boldness  of  accusation  may  supply  the  place  of  truth  and 
proof.  The  most  pro jligate  men  are  encouraged,  probably  bribed,  cer 
tainly  with  patronage  if  not  with  money,  to  become  informers  and  ac-  * 
cusers.  A  nd  when  tales  which  their  characters  alone  ought  to  dis 
credit  are  refuted  by  evidence  and  facts  which  oblige  the  patrons  of 
them  to  abandon  their  support,  they  still  continue  in  corroding  whis 
pers  to  wear  away  the  reputations  which  they  could  not  directly  sub 
vert." 

He  was  now  pointing  at  the  creature  Callender,  whom 
Jefferson  and  Burr  maintained  as  a  reporter  of  the  con 
gressional  debates  and  an  irresponsible  pamphleteer.  It 
was  not  to  reply  to  this  man  that  Hamilton  had  been 
moved,  but  to  explain  the  mysterious  correspondences 
Callender  had  been  the  means  of  presenting  to  a  gap 
ing  public. 

That  Aaron  Burr  had  first  obtained  these  letters,  that 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  231 

he  was  now  the  supporter  and  ruler  of  Maria  Reynolds, 
and  that  Hamilton's  domestic  crisis  was  being  watched 
and  guided  by  these  people,  nerved  him  to  move  rapidly 
to  the  direct  issue.  Hamilton  resumed  : 

"-//",  luckily  for  the  conspirators  against  honest  fame,  any  little 
foible  or  folly  can  be  traced  out  in  one  whom  they  desire  to  persecute, 
it  becomes  at  once  in  their  hands  a  two-edged  sword,  by  which  to  wound 
the  public  character  and  stab  the  private  felicity  of  the  person. 

"  With  such  men  nothing  is  sacred, 

"  Even  the  peace  of  an  unoffending  and  amiable  wife  is  a  welcome 
repast  to  their  insatiate  fury  against  the  husband." 

His  baby  cried,  and  the  echo  of  his  feelings  made  him 
also  grow  blind  with  tears.  He  knew  by  these  tears  that 
he  was  writing  well,  and  stopped  to  hear  his  wife's  lul 
laby,  as  she  nursed  his  child  : 

By,  by,  oh  !  by,  my  babe,  forsooth, 
It  hurts  to  cut  his  little  tooth  ; 
But  bite  it  on  his  mamma's  breast — 
Her  milk  will  give  the  baby  rest. 

"  O  God  !  "  thought  Hamilton,  "  what  a  tooth  will  be 
drawn  through  that  precious  breast  to-morrow,  which  is 
the  sustenance  of  my  soul ! " 

The  child's  fretfulness  yielded  to  Eliza's  bounty,  and 
the  man  pleading  for  his  honor  continued  to  write  : 

"  Even  the  great  and  multiplied  services,  the  tried  and  rarely  equalled 
virtues  of  a  Washington  can  secure  no  exemption. 

"  How,  then,  can  I,  with  pretensions  every  way  inferior,  expect  to 
escape  ? 

''  And  truly,  if  this  be,  as  every  appearance  indicates,  a  conspiracy  of 
vice  against  virtue,  ought  I  not  rather  to  be  flattered  that  I  have  been 
so  long  and  so  peculiarly  an  object  of  persecution  ?  Ought  I  to  regret 
if  there  be  anything  about  me  so  formidable  to  the  Faction  as  to  have 
made  me  worthy  to  be  distinguished  by  the  plenitude  of  its  rancour  and 
venom  ? 

"It  is  certain  that  I  have  had  a  pretty  copious  experience  of  its 
malignity. 

"  For  the  honour  of  human  nature,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  examples 
are  not  numerous  of  men  so  greatly  calumniated  and  persecuted  as  I 
have  been,  with  so  little  cause" 

Here  the  retrospect  of  gratuitous  toil  in  the  public 
fields,  draining  life  of  its  nerve  and  blood,  denying  sleep 
its  entreaty,  soliciting  heavy  tasks  which  yielded  not 
profit,  straightening  out  the  deformity  of  the  finances 
and  taking  upon  his  shoulders  the  literary  defence  of  the 


232  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

whole  government,  touched  Hamilton  with  a  mighty  dis 
appointment. 

He  thought  of  to-morrow's  work  in  the  public  court, 
with  his  case  unprepared  and  the  public  expectation 
great,  and  his  fee  imperatively  needed  to  pay  the  expense 
of  printing  this  present  defence  and  supporting  his  brood. 
All  the  agony  of  the  author  shuffling  between  immortality 
and  hunger  arose  to  his  eyes,  and  shut  out  the  hideous 
picture  of  democratic  ingratitude. 

The  little  streets  were  now  pealing  with  laughter  and 
animated  talk.  The  Tontine  Assembly,  around  the 
corner  on  Broadway,  was  dismissing  after  a  ball  and 
supper.  His  nature  prone  to  sociality,  Hamilton  bent 
again  to  his  expiation.  Still  the  dire  confession  would 
not  be  made,  and  he  continued  to  write  around  the  matter 
of  his  transgression. 

He  appealed  to  all  men  for  the  "  unblemished  pecuniary 
reputation  "  with  which  he  undertook  the  office  of  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  and  showed  that  the  assaults  upon 
him  were  based  upon  his  firm  opinion  "  that  the  public 
debt  ought  to  be  provided  for  on  the  basis  of  the  contract 
by  which  it  was  created,"  and  upon  perversions  of  those 
congressmen  who  "  did  not  understand  accounts." 

He  reviewed  a  double  investigation  of  his  office  by 
Congress,  and  his  complete  exoneration,  especially  when 
assailed  by  "  a  worthless  man  of  the  name  of  Fraunces," 
and  added  in  a  foot-note  :  "  Would  it  be  believed,  after 
all  this,  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  would  write  to  this  Fraunces  friendly  letters  ?  " 

At  last  the  declaration  of  his  weakness  had  to  be  written. 

He  penned  it  with  a  dry  heart  but  also  with  dry  eyes, 
and  looked  to  see  how  it  would  read. 

Very,  very  naked  it  seemed  to  him,  as  follows  : 

"  Of  all  the  vile  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  injure  my  char 
acter,  that  which  has  been  lately  revived  is  the  most  vile. 

' '  The  charge  against  me  is  a  connection  with  one  James  Reynolds 
for  purposes  of  improper  pecuniary  speculation. 

"  My  real  crime  is  an  amorous  connection  with  his  wife,  for  a  con 
siderable  time  with  his  privity  and  connivance,  if  not  originally 
brought  on  by  a  combination  between  the  husband  and  wife  with  the 
design  to  extort  money  from  me. " 

"  That  little  door  which  admitted  me  five  years  ago," 
thought  Hamilton,  "  when  the  shades  of  night  embowered 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  233 

it,  I  now  perceive  to  have  been  wide  enough  for  four 

millions  of  Americans  to  enter  in  and  view  my  weakness  !" 

He  rushed  on  and  presently  was  in  the  deep  morass  of 

this  sentence,  which  seemed  to  swallow  him  to  the  eyes  : 

"  This  confession  is  not  made  itnthout  a  blush,  f  cannot  be  the 
apologist  of  any  vice  because  the  ardour  of  passion  may  have  made  it 
mine. 

"  I  can  never  cease  to  condemn  myself  for  the  pang  which  it  may  in 
flict  in  a  bosom  eminently  intitled  to  all  my  gratitude,  fidelity,  and  love. 

"But  that  bosom  will  approve  that  even  at  so  great  an  expence  1 
should  effectually  wipe  au<ay  a  more  serious  stain  from  a  name  which 
it  cherishes  with  no  less  elevation  than  tenderness '." 

As  this  appeared  under  Hamilton's  hand  he  suddenly 
experienced  a  wonderful  change  of  feeling. 

Until  he  had  written  it  there  was  an  obdurate  some 
thing  upon  his  heart  like  cowardice  mixed  with  rebellion. 

The  moment  he  had  admitted  to  the  paper  his  una 
dorned  confession  there  came  a  rush  of  penitence,  fol 
lowed  by  love,  such  as  the  subdued  child  feels  after  chas 
tisement,  when  its  affection  is  again  turned  to  its  parent. 

The  compliment  to  his  wife  he  had  not  meditated.  It 
swept  in  upon  his  feelings,  after  confession,  like  a  stroke 
of  inspiration  or  of  genius. 

The  more  he  looked  at  these  unstrained  and  flowing 
lines  of  kindness  the  more  beautiful  they  seemed. 

He  rose,  all  suffused  with  eager  happiness,  and  walked 
back  to  Eliza's  chamber  and  leaned  over  her. 

She  seemed  to  be  lying  with  wide-open  eyes. 

He  bent  to  kiss  her,  and  her  eyes  were  closed. 

His  tears  fell  upon  her  face  and  caused,  her  to  waken. 
She  raised  her  arms  and  put  them  around  him  and 
sighed  : 

"  I  was  almost  dreaming  that  you  trusted  Mrs.  Priest 
ley  more  than  me.  Do  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Hamilton,  to  whom  all  truth  now  seemed 
easy  ;  "  I  did  trust  her,  first.  A  friend  is  sometimes  love's 
alternative." 

"  Make  me  your  friend  !  "  breathed  the  wife. 

"  To-morrow,  Eliza,  you  shall  be  my  friend  or  my 
enemy." 

"  Can  it  not  be  to-night  ?  What  ails  you  ?  I  hate  to 
see  you  crying.  Fear  not  but  you  will  put  all  your  ene 
mies  under  your  feet !  " 


234  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  My  only  enemy  I  have  this  night  dislodged,  dear 
wife— a  stubborn  heart." 

"  Go  back,"  Eliza  said,  "and  finish  your  work.  You 
look  so  happy  though  you  are  so  haggard,  Alexan 
der." 

As  Hamilton  reached  his  candelabra  table  near  the 
low-stooped  house  front,  he  thought  to  inhale  from  the 
street  a  breath  from  the  sea  breeze,  and  placed  his  head 
through  the  unswung  casement. 

As  he  did  so  a  woman  on  the  narrow  pave  whispered 
to  him  : 

"  I  am  Maria.  Do  you  want  my  help  to  make  your 
defence,  Hamilton  ? " 

"  Never  your  help,  madame,  again.  Let  me  rely  only 
upon  your  hostility.  I  have  worn  your  yoke  for  six  long 
years,  and  now  you  come  to  turn  me  back  from  expia 
tion  as  the  fallen  angel  of  that  fiend " 

"  Yes ;  the  emissary  of  Aaron  Burr.  But  I  would 
rather  have  your  curses,  Hamilton,  than  Mr.  Burr's 
caresses.  Do  not  fear  to  treat  me  fearlessly  in  your  pub 
lic  defence  !  I  can  stand  it  for  the  love  I  bear  you.  This 
is  my  real  errand  to-night — to  tell  you  that  I  never  can 
be  used  again  to  injure  you  ;  to  say  that  your  defence 
shall  not  provoke  me  to  any  denial  or  reply.  Take  any 
advantage  of  Maria's  love  !  " 

A  movement  of  whiteness  like  a  spirit  was  at  Hamil 
ton's  side. 

The  being  in  the  street  seemed  to  disappear  in  the 
ground. 

"  Have  I  been  your  friend  to-night — myself  and  this 
cherub  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Hamilton,  standing  in  her  gown 
with  her  arms  around  her  babe. 

"  You  have,  indeed.  Oh  !  why  did  you  ever  leave  me, 
my  wife,  even  for  a  summer?  " 

"  I  thought  I  heard  you  talking  to  yourself  just  now. 
Or  was  it  with  that  man  in  the  shade  of  the  tree  lurking 
opposite  ? " 

At  the  word  a  large  body  was  seen  to  glide  away  under 
the  shadows  of  the  Dutch-gabled  shops. 

"  Tigress  !  "  muttered  Hamilton. 

He  had  recognized  the  form  and  movement  of  Mr. 
Take  Clin*;man,  Aaron  Burr's  new  man  of  all  work  in 
Ward  politics. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  235 

The  morning  came  with  ringing  bells.  From  the  Old 
Dutch  church  cupola  in  Nassau  Street  to  the  new  chapel 
in  Ann  Street  the  steeples  were  vocal,  and  the  printer's 
boys  were  crying  special  gazettes  : 

'•  Capture  of  Wenice  by  Bonyparty  !  Capture  of  Rome 
and  the  Pope  by  Bonyparty  !  Capture  of  Paris  and  the 
French  Congress  by  Bonyparty  !  Capture  of  Wienny 
by  Bonyparty  !  " 

Mrs.  Hamilton  saw  upon  the  writing-table  a  great 
sealed  package  of  manuscript  to  be  sent  to  the  printers 
at  Philadelphia  ;  and  the  candles  were  burnt  out  in  their 
sockets. 

Hamilton  had  thrown  himself  upon  the  bed,  like  one 
worn  out,  and  in  the  attitude  of  supplication,  with  hands 
outstretched  and  buried  face. 

"  Awake,  darling  !  Your  coffee  is  ready,  and  it  is 
time  for  you  to  go  to  court." 

He  aroused  himself  and  was  as  cheerful  as  exhaustion 
could  be  after  hardly  an  hour  of  stolen  rest. 

At  ten  o'clock  he  stood  in  court,  before  all  the  bar  of 
the  city  and  an  exacting  audience,  to  deliver  his  argu 
ment. 

For  a  moment  he  seemed  overcome,  and  covered  his 
face  with  his  hands. 

Before  the  general  sympathy  for  him  could  find  expres 
sion  he  was  ready  and  had  commenced. 

What  was  his  client  ? 

It  was  the  public  press  and  its  "Bright  to  publish  with 
impunity,  truth,  with  good  motives,  for  justifiable  ends, 
.though  reflecting  on  government,  magistracy,  or  indi 
viduals." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

ECHO. 

THE  laboratory  at  Northumberland  was  finished,  and 
Doctor  Priestley  was  so  proud  of  it  that  he  would 
not  let  a  servant  even  light  the  fires,  but  was  his  own 
janitor. 

He  found  apt  mechanics  among  the  Pennsylvanians 
and  Wyoming  Yankees  to  make  his  apparatus,  much  of 


236  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

which  he  invented  himself,  but  they  often  improved  his 
plans  in  a  single  experiment. 

To  the  delight  of  a  few  visitors  and  neighbors,  he  per 
formed  original  tricks  with  flame  and  gas  ;  and,  like  all 
schoolmasters,  classified  that  which  classified  ftself.  He 
had  his  alkaline  airs,  acid  airs,  nitrous  airs,  fixed  and 
common  airs  ;  and,  it  must  be  added,  his  highly  phlogis- 
ticated  airs,  especially  when  Mr.  William  Cobbett  sent  in 
a  shot  like  the  following  : 

' '  Cooper  having  burnt  the  velverets  and  calicoes  which  he  proposed 
to  bleach  on  novel  phlogistic  principles,  having  become  a  bankrupt, 
retires  to  America  to  philosophize,  and,  with  Priestley,  to  enlighten 
Europe  thence.  All  that  now  remains  of  poor  Cooper  would  be  a 
Lenten  entertainment  even  for  the  crows.  Despised,  neglected,  as 
Priestley  and  Cooper  are,  1  would  not  be  surprised  if  they  were  to 
make  some  desperate  attempt  on  their  own  lives." 

All  this  was  apropos  of  Mr.  Cooper's  failure,  with  two 
of  Doctor  Priestley's  sons,  to  establish  a  great  barony  on 
the  Loyalsock,  in  a  new  county  to  the  north,  where  Mr. 
Cooper  hoped  to  be  at  least  a  congressman  or  a  judge. 

Priestley's  political  enemies  in  Europe  were  greedy  for 
every  rumor  to  his  detriment,  and  Mr.  Cooper  was  writ 
ing  articles  at  Northumberland,  which  perished  there, 
to  incite  Mr.  Cobbett,  who  published  in  Philadelphia  and 
was  read  everywhere. 

"  Now,  surely,"  exclaimed  Lizzie  Priestley,  "this  is  no 
freedom  of  the  press— to  hope  that  poor  father  will  com 
mit  suicide,  and  then,  to  anger  him  to  do  so." 

"  Never  mind  that  chap,"  exclaimed  Cooper;  "old 
Judge  Tommy  McKean  has  got  his  poll-parrot  nose  and 
vitreous  eyes  turned  on  Sergeant  Cobbett,  and  Doctor 
Sangrado  Rush  has  commenced  a  libel  suit  which  will 
sell  the  slanderer  out." 

"  Thomas,"  repeated  Lizzie,  "  you  laugh  at  that  as  if 
it  were  something  right.  Of  course,  if  you  are  ever 
punished  for  the  same  kind  of  printing,  you  will  not  com 
plain  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  use  for  a  press  which  is  not  for  liberty. 
A  free  press  means  only  a  democratic  press.  Cobbett's 
press  is  for  monarchy." 

"  It  seems  to  be  the  only  press  in  favor  of  Washington. 
The  American  press  has  become  precociously  drunken," 
exclaimed  Joe  Priestley.  "  Yet  the  country  is  doing  well 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  237 

and  is  alone  spared  from  war.  What  does  the  Opposition 
want  ?  " 

Mr.  Cooper  was  living  with  and  upon  Joe  Priestley, 
and  had  desired  the  doctor  to  get  a  Federal  office  for 
him  by  intercession  with  Adams  and  Jefferson,  whilst  he 
had  already  destroyed  Doctor  Priestley's  influence  with 
Mr.  Adams  and  was  also  seeking  to  bring  the  doctor  to 
aid  the  Jeffersonian  revolution  of  Pennsylvania. 

Controversy  eternally  separated  oxygen  and  its  dis 
coverer.  Priestley  was  like  the  princess  of  Egypt  finding 
Moses  in  the  bulrushes — toothsome  little  Jew — and  seek 
ing  to  controvert  him  into  a  priest  of  Isis. 

Mr.  Cooper  was  the  interloper,  the  false  adjutant  of 
Priestley's  mistake. 

Doctor  Priestley  advertised  his  folly  of  phlogiston  peri 
odically  to  the  world,  and  so  became  the  sport  of  science, 
and  spent  the  chief  remainder  of  his  days  in  speculative 
theology,  or  theo-chemistry. 

But  the  poor  old  man  was  on  his  last  score  of  appointed 
life,  and  his  dead  recalled  him  to  the  contemplations  of 
the  aged  who  have  been  happy. 

He  felt  that  the  frictions  of  men,  which  heat  the  soul 
to  daring  thoughts,  would  be  for  him  no  more — self- 
banished  here  to  a  river  without  a  human  movement. 

Already  the  genius  of  Rumford,  who  had  been  banished 
from  America  to  Europe,  had  supplanted  the  experi 
ments  of  both  Priestley  and  Lavoisier. 

He  ruled  Bavaria  ;  he  was  sent  Minister  of  the  Elector 
to  England  ;  he  was  to  become  husband  to  Lavoisier's 
wife.  The  unfinished  work  of  Franklin  was  this  Tory 
courtier's  legacy.  In  warming  the  houses  of  the  million 
he  \vas  to  touch  the  highest  mystery  in  creation  :  heat  to 
be  a  mechanical  force  ;  phlogiston  to  be  an  impostor. 

The  mail  from  Philadelphia  came  in  the  day  of  our 
chapter,  and  brought  Joseph  Priestley,  Jr.,  a  sealed  pam 
phlet  under  the  frank  of  Timothy  Pickering,  Secretary 
of  State. 

Lizzie  Priestley  called  her  husband  away  from  Mr. 
Cooper,  and  they  went  into  the  doctor's  library  and  opened 
the  pamphlet.  It  bore  the  title  of  Hamilton's  "  Observa 
tions,"  as  already  described. 

"  Oh,  thank  God,  Joe  !  "  the  wife  exclaimed,  with  her 
silken  curls  trembling  and  her  large,  gray  eyes  rilled  with 


238  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

English  dew.  "  The  very  worst  has  come,  and  that  is 
next  to  the  best.  He  has  plunged  into  the  cold  river  and 
has  come  out  to  the  celestial  shore  !  " 

"Hamilton?  Gracious!  how  you  cling  to  him  !  Do 
you  know  I  would  have  been  jealous  of  you — or,  rather, 
of  Hamilton — if  you  hadn't  been  so  open  and  bold, 
Lizzie  ?  " 

"  And  were  you  not  jealous,  Josie  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly.  But  I  saw  that  you  considered  him  a 
much  greater  man  than  father,  or  me.  But  so  he  was. 
People  are  right  to  stick  by  men  of  authority." 

"  Joe>  vou  are  tne  bravest,  truest  man  that  lives.  If 
Hamilton  had  been  like  you,  this  pamphlet  need  never 
have  been  written.  You  are  true  to  father  and  true  to 
wife  and  child.  I  knew,  Joe,  that  I  could  trust  you  even 
with  Mrs.  Reynolds,  and  that  you  were  brave  enough  to 
trust  me,  and  so  I  made  the  journey  that  is,  and  ever  will 
be,  the  greatest  event  of  my  life." 

"  That  was  a  rum  kind  of  a  journey,  wife,"  observed 
Joe,  reflectively,  running  his  hand  through  his  beard 
and  lighting  his  pipe.  "  I  thought  some  day,  when  it 
was  quite  agreeable,  you  would  tell  me  where  you  went." 

"  Dear,  noble  Joe  !  It  has  been  breaking  my  heart 
these  three  years  to  have  that  mysterious  absence  lying 
between  us,  like  an  open  grave." 

"  O  pshaw  !  now.  Didn't  you  stand  by  me  when  there 
was  a  terrible  case  made  out  against  me  ?  I  got  to  be  a 
pretty  old  man  that  day,  Lizzie.  You  brought  me  out 
innocent  when  I  thought  I  was  guilty.  Ha,  ha,  ha,  ha  ! 
Of  course,  after  that,  it  didn't  become  me  to  inquire  where 
my  attorney  had  been  roving  to.  I  was  glad  to  cry  quits." 

"  Now,  Joe,  that  proves  that  you  consider  me  to  have 
balanced  your  account  with  another  wrong.  This  day, 
dear,  may  let  me  tell  my  tale  and  take  your  sentence 
upon  me.  But  now  I  am  dying  to  hear  the  Hamilton 
paper  read.  Joe,  perhaps  I  was  one  of  the  authors  of  it !" 

As  they  started  the  reading,  Doctor  Priestley  came  in 
and  sat  down  to  write  an. article  for  the  Medical  Repository. 

"  Don't  stop  for  me,  children,"  said  the  doctor;  "I 
have  not  the  nervous  irritability  of  authors,  because  I 
trained  myself  to  compose  in  the  midst  of  conversation, 
at  dear  old  Warrington  School." 

So  Joseph,  Jr.,  lighted  his  pipe  and  opened  a  bottle 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  239 

of  American  porter,  and  heard  his  wife  pass  through  the 
general  introduction  of  Colonel  Hamilton's  pamphlet,  till 
her  voice  became  lower  and  trembled  upon  the  unevading 
story  of  Hamilton's  seduction,  as  follows  : 

"  All  the  documents  show,  and  it  is  otherwise  a  matter  of  notoriety, 
that  Reynolds  was  an  obscure,  ^^nimportant,  and  profligate  man. 

"  Clingman,  Reynolds,  and  his  wife  were  manifestly  in  very  close 
confidence  with  each  other. 

"  As  to  Mrs.  Reynolds,  if  she  was  not  an  accomplice,  as  it  is  too 
probable  she  was,  her  situation  would  naturally  subject  her  to  the  will 
of  her  husband. 

"  Frail  indeed  will  be  the  tenure  by  which  the  most  blameless  man 
will  hold  his  reputation  if  the  assertions  of  three  of  the  most  abandoned 
characters  in  the  community  are  sufficient  to  blast  it." 

"  Halloo  !  halloo  !  "  exclaimed  Joe  Priestley,  "  isn't  that 
rather  too  retributive  on  the  fine  Reynolds  ?  " 

"The  shameless  being!"  rejoined  Lizzie,  "what  did 
she  not  try  to  fasten  upon  you,  Joe,  in  the  presence  of 
your  wife  ?  And  did  she  ever  feel  for  Jfrs.  Hamilton  ? " 

"  Oh  !  children,"  absently  remarked  Doctor  Priestley, 
"the  boys  will  go  off  and  behave  in  a  way  to  wound  their 
parents'  hearts,  but,  after  all,  they're  our  boys  !  " 

"  That  doctrine's  oxygenated  Christianity,"  softly 
mused  younger  Joe  to  his  wife,  who  attempted  to  read 
the  next  sentence  from  Hamilton's  publication,  and  had 
become,  in  a  manner,  too  hysterical  to  do  it.  Joe  took 
the  little  book  and  read  : 

"  Some  time  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1791  a  woman  called  at  my 
house  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and  asked  to  speak  with  me  in  pri 
vate. 

"  /  attended  her  into  a  room  apart  from  the  family. 

"  With  a  seeming  air  of  affliction  she  informed  me  that  she  was  a 
daughter  of  a  Mr.  Lewis,  sister  to  a  Mr.  G.  Livingston,  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  wife  to  a  Mr.  Reynolds,  whose  father  was  in  the 
Commissary  Department  during  the  war  with  Great  Britain  ;  that  her 
husband,  who  for  a  long  time  had  treated  her  very  cruelly,  had  latelv 
left  her,  to  live  with  another  woman,  and  in  so  destitute  a  condition 
that,  though  desirous  of  returning  to  her  friends,  she  had  not  the 
means  ;  that,  knowing  I  was  a  citizen  of  New  York,  she  had  taken 
the  liberty  to  apply  to  hiy  huma)iity  for  assistance. 

"  /  replied  that  her  situation  was  a  veiy  interesting  one,  that  I  was 
disposed  to  afford  her  assistance  to  convey  her  to  her  friends,  but  this 
at  the  moment  not  being  convenient  to  me  (which  was  the  fact}  I  must 
request  the  place  of  her  residence,  to  which  I  should  bring  or  send  a 
small  supply  of  money. 

"  She  told  me  the  street  and  the  number  of  the  house  where  sht 
lodged. 


240  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

' '  In  the  evening  I  put  a  bank  bill  in  my  pocket  and  went  to  the 
house. 

"  /  inquired  for  Mrs.  Reynolds,  and  was  shewn  up-stairs,  at  the 
head  of  which  she  met  me  and  conducted  me  into  a  bed-room. 

''  /  took  the  bill  out  of  my  pocket  and  gave  it  to  her. 

"  Some  conversation  ensued,  from  which  it  was  quickly  appar 
ent " 

A  loud  scream  interrupted  the  reading. 

"  He's  told  it  like  a  lion  ! "  exclaimed  Joe's  wife. 
"  Hurrah  !  hur " 

She  was  spinning  around  as  she  cried,  with  her  head 
turned  by  the  excitement  of  the  Confession,  and  seeking 
in  her  blindness  to  grasp  something,  she  caught  upon  a 
pile  of  books  and  notes,  which  had  been  arranged  by 
Joe's  father  for  a  great  knock-down  argument  of  some 
kind,  and  fell  amidst  their  ruins. 

"  There  goes  all  my  work  of  comparison  of  the  insti 
tutions  of  Moses  with  those  of  the  Hindoos  !  "  cried  the 
chemical  doctor. 

"  Get  up,  love  !  "  pleaded  Joe,  going  to  his  wife.  "  It 
was  a  little  stunning,  wasn't  it  ?  There,  there  !  Take 
a  sip  of  father's  sherry.  Why,  Lizzie,  Colonel  Hamilton 
was  merely  going  to  say  that  Madame  Reynolds  made 
love  to  him,  and  after  that  pushed  into  his  house  in 
his  wife's  absence,  at  Albany, 'and  so  became  a  kind 
of  Delilah,  or  Jezebel,  or  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  to 
him." 

"  Went  to  his  house,  of  course  !  "  sighed  the  wife, 
coming  quickly  to  herself.  "  Hasn't  she  been  to  this 
house  uninvited  ?  To  good  Doctor  Nesbit's,  too  ?  And 
now  she's  in  Colonel  Burr's  house,  familiar  as  his  daugh 
ter,  cocked  up  in  silks  at  Richmond  Hill  !  " 

"  Whom  in  the  world  are  you  talking  about  ? "  cried 
Doctor  Priestley.  "  Mrs.  Jordan  ?  Pope  Joan  ?  The 
Red  Dragon  of  Revelations  ?  " 

"  No,  father ;  about  that  Mrs.  Reynolds  who  visited 
here  when  first  we  came  and  made  the  accusation  against 
Josie." 

"  Hush,  my  child  !  "  said  Doctor  Priestley.  "  All  that  I 
remember  of  that  poor  sinner  was  that  my  Harry  loved 
her." 

He  went  out  to  take  his  rowing  on  the  river  and  a  long 
walk  on  the  cliffs,  and  left  husband  and  wife  to  study  with 
intentness  the  subsequent  revelations  of  Hamilton.  Joe 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  24! 

read  the  story  of  the  second  inevitable  step  in  the  art  of 
blackmail — the  husband's  incidental  cunning  : 

''  In  the  course  of  a  short  time"  "wrote  Hamilton,  "  she  mentioned  to 
me  that  her  husband  had  solicited  a  reconciliation,  and  affected  to  con 
sult  me  about  it. 

"  I  advised  to  it,  and  was  soon  after  informed  by  her  that  it  had 
taken  place. 

"  She  told  me,  besides,  that  her  husband  Jiad  been  engaged  in  specu 
lation,  and,  she  believed,  could  give  information  respecting  the  conduct 
of  some  persons  in  the  department  which  could  be  useful." 

So  Reynolds  came,  and  the  next  thing  was  his  wife's 
intimation  to  appoint  him  a  clerk  in  the  department, 
which  Hamilton  would  not  do,  as  Reynolds  had  previ 
ously  been  an  unworthy  government  clerk. 

The  motive  spirit  in  all  this  management  had  been  the 
astute  Clingman,  and  Reynolds,  no  less  than  Hamilton, 
a  dupe. 

What  now  did  Hamilton  conceive  Mrs.  Reynolds'  part 
to  have  been  ?  His  disclosure  told  the  tale. 

"  Though  various  reflections  induced  me  to  wish  a  cessation  of  this 
intercourse,  yet  her  conduct  made  it  extremely  difficult  to  disentangle 
myself. 

"All  the  appearances  of  violent  attachment ',  and  of  agonizing  dis 
tress  at  the  idea  of  a  relinquishment,  were  played  with  a  most  imposing 
art. 

"  This,  though  it  did  not  make  me  entirely  the  dupe  of  the  plot,  yet 
kept  me  in  a  state  of  irresolution. 

''  My  sensibility,  perhaps  my  vanity,  admitted  the  possibility  of  a 
real  fondness,  and  led  me  to  adopt  the  plan  of  a  gradual  discontinu 
ance,  rather  than  of  a  sudden  interruption,  as  least  calculated  to  give 
pain  if  a  real  partiality  existed. 

"  Mrs.  Reynolds,  on  the  other  hand,  employed  every  effort  to  keep 
up  mv  attention  and  visits.  Her  pen  was  freelv  employed,  and  her 
letters  were  filled  with  those  tender  and  pathetic  effusions  which  would 
have  been  natural  to  a  woman  truly  fond  and  neglected. 

"  One  day  I  received  a  letter  from  her  intimating  a  discover^1  by  her 
husband. 

'•  It  was  a  matter  of  doubt  with  me  whether  there  had  been  really  a 
discovery  by  accident,  or  whether  the  time  for  the  catastrophe  of  the 
plot  was  arrived. 

"  The  same  day  I  received  from  Air.  Reynolds  a  letter  by  which  he 
informs  me  of  the  detection  of  his  wife  in  the  act  of  writing  a  letter 
to  me,  and  that  he  had  obtained  from  her  a  discovery  of  her  connection 
with  me,  suggesting  that  it  was  the  consequence  of  an  undue  advan 
tage  taken  of  her  distress. 

" /»  answer  to  this  I  sent  him  a  note  or  message  desiring  him  to 
call  upon  me  at  my  office,  which  I  think  he  did  the  same  day. 

"  He  said  he  was  resolved  to  have  satisfaction." 
16 


242  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

u  How  many  men  of  shining  mark  are  made  to  pay  such 
a  penalty  all  their  days!  "  exclaimed  Lizzie.  "  O  Joe  !  I 
saw  that  something  was  preying  on  Hamilton  from  the 
day  he  called  upon  us  at  Philadelphia,  and  that  it  started 
with  Mrs.  Reynolds'  presence  there.  I  took  so  deep  an 
interest  in  him  as  a  man,  a  fellow-Englishman  by  birth, 
a  person  of  genius  and  gentleness,  that  I  was  carried 
away." 

"  Dear  me  !  "  replied  Joe,  "  you  were  as  weak  as 
Hamilton." 

"  Now,  sir,  don't  quiz  me  ! — I  feel  it  cruelly.  I  never 
was  a  truer-hearted  wife  to  you  than  when  I  went  to  the 
redemption  of  that  man  and  of  the  other  sex,  against 
what  I  have  felt  to  be  the  persecution  of  a  bad  woman. 
Men  always  take  any  woman's  part  against  any  man. 
Women  often  know  better.  A  loving  man  is  in  the 
greatest  danger,  if  his  conduct  be  genial  and  generous." 

"  Now,  I  differ,"  said  Joe.  "  Women  are  everywhere 
better  than  men." 

u  And  ought  to  be.  They  were  not  born  to  be  pursuers, 
as  men  were.  The  lower  animals  respect  this  law  ;  but 
here  was  a  woman  who  had  no  pity  for  another  wife,  who 
could  steal  to  her  rival's  habitation  and  Jook  at  the  baby's 
cradle  there  without  remorse.  No  ;  I  do  not  ask  men  to 
take  Hamilton's  part,"  spoke  the  curling-haired  lady  with 
rising  fire,  "  but  as  the  mother  of  your  boy — of  my  own 
little  Joe — I  defend  the  man  though  I  cannot  exonerate 
him,  and  against  this  woman  I  defend  him  against  all  the 
world." 

"You  are  pugnacious,  surely,  wife.  But  wasn't  Rey 
nolds  rather  a  lazy,  good-natured  being  ? " 

"  Such  are  often  the  chief  animals,  Joe,  Their  first 
sin  is  idleness,  letting  a  mother  or  a  sister  work  for  them 
while  they  lie  abed  or  stand  languid  before  the  toilet, 
appreciating  their  own  beauty.  The  deep,  deep  self-love 
commencing  there,  goes  on  in  time  to  a  hideous  capi 
talization  of  its  superior  charms.  The  brave,  daring  men 
marry  early,  and  God  blesses  them  with  power  and  dignity. 
The  indolent  thief  of  such  a  gentleman's  loyalty  and 
principle  is  she  who  finds  about  him  nothing  to  worship, 
but  seeks  beneath  his  nature  to  break  his  paradise  up  and 
feed  her  miserable  folly  with  his  golden  time." 

"By  Jove,  Lizzie,  you're  a  heroine  ! " 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  243 

"  Thank  you.  I  almost  believe  I  am.  But  let  us  finish 
Hamilton's  clean-breasting  of  this  monstrous  horror.  Of 
course  he  was  next  taxed  of  his  family's  support  ?  " 

"  Yes.  It  says  that  after  backing  and  filling,  Reynolds 
wrote  that  *  he  was  willing  to  take  a  thousand  dollars  as 
a  plaister  for  his  wounded  honor. 

"  *  I  determined,'  says  Hamilton,  '  to  give  it  to  him  and 
did  so  in  two  payments  as  per  receipt. 

"'I  received  letter  No.  5,  by  which  Reynolds  writes 
me  to  renew  my  visits  to  his  wife.'  " 

"  That  is  not  possible,"  said  Lizzie.  "  I  saw  Mr.  Rey 
nolds  and  he  was  a  weak  man.  It  may  have  been  that 
Clingman." 

"  It  was,  for  Hamilton  says  :  '  There  can  be  no  doubt 
of  the  sufficiency  of  Clingman's  influence,  when  it  is 
understood  that  Mrs.  Reynolds  and  he  afterward  lived 
together  as  man  and  wife.'  " 

"  How  much,  Joe,  did  they  get  out  of  Secretary  Ham 
ilton  ?  " 

"  Here  are  eleven  hundred  dollars  accounted  for.  They 
even  nagged  him  for  money  for  Mr.  Reynolds  to  sub 
scribe  to  the  Lancaster  turnpike  stock.  It  was  borrow, 
borrow,  borrow — must  have  this  to-day,  must  have  that 
to-morrow  noon.  And,  finally,  Reynolds  and  Clingman 
got  into  jail  and  sent  to  Hamilton  to  bail  them  out.  That 
was  the  time,  it  appears,  when  Clingman,  not  Reynolds, 
dropped  the  remark  to  Monroe  and  Muhlenberg, — the  first 
of  '  smelling  committees,' — that  Secretary  Hamilton  had 
used  Mr.  Reynolds  to  job  in  the  public  stocks  for  him." 

"  Was  there  ever  such  a  villain  ?  And  this  Monroe, 
to  get  even  with  General  Washington  for  recalling  him 
from  France,  forces  all  this  scandal  out.  Some  day,  if 
the  Lord  is  just,  he  will  know  what  it  is  to  need  money 
and  honor,  too." 

"  Well,  Hamilton  is  going  to  suffer  with  the  cowardly 
element  of  the  world,  which  considers  the  greatest  sin 
'to  be  found  out;  '  but  he  will  be  a  caution  to  future 
blackmailers.  See  how  he  draws  the  distinctions,  finely 
as  in  a  novel.  Hear  this,  Lizzie  : 

'  //  was  a  persevering  scheme  to  spare  no  pains  to  levy  contributions 
upon  my  passions  on  the  one  hand  and  upon  my  appreJiensions  of  dis 
covery  on  the  other;  and  it  was  conttii'eJ,  notwithstanding  all  tJie  cau 
tion  on  my  part  to  avoid  it,  that  Clingman  should  occasionally  see  me.'  " 


244  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Does  he  defend  Mr.  Reynolds  in  any  way  ?  " 

"Yes;  he  says  that  '  in  the  workings  of  human  incon 
sistency  it  was  very  possible  that  the  same  man  might 
be  corrupt  enough  to  compound  for  his  wife's  chastity 
and  yet  have  sensibility  enough  to  be  restless  in  the  situ 
ation,  and  to  hate  the  cause  of  it.'  ' 

"  And  of  Mrs.  Reynolds  ?  " 

"  Of  her  he  remarks  that  '  the  variety  of  shapes  which 
this  woman  could  assume  was  endless.'  You  see,  Ham 
ilton  publishes  her  letters  in  an  appendix  to  tell  for 
themselves,  and  does  not  clog  his  statement  with  them. 
And  look  here,  wife,  Mr.  Hamilton  says  that  two  of  her 
letters  are  signed  l  Maria  Clingman,'  and  that  in  them 
she  mentions  the  'circumstance  of  her  being  married 
to  Clingrnan.'  ' 

"  All  marriages,  I  fear,  Joe,  are  circumstances  to  that 
woman.  How  she  has  crossed  Hamilton's  career,  and 
spotted  his  fountain  that  had  run  so  clear  !  " 

"  He  denies  Calender's  charge,  I  see,  that  he  withdrew 
his  name  for  President  of  the  United  States  under  the 
menace  of  these  people." 

"  And  what  says  Hamilton  for  himself  ?  " 

"  Only  this,  wife.  He  says,  in  a  really  fine,  touching 
way  :  t  For  this  amour  I  bow  to  the  just  censure  which 
it  merits.  I  have  paid  pretty  severely  for  the  folly,  and 
can  never  recollect  it  without  disgust  and  self-condem 
nation.  It  might  seem  affectation  to  say  more.'  ' 

"  Just  like  Hamilton.  Now,  husband,  let  the  world 
comment  as  it  will,  Colonel  Hamilton  has  proved  that  '  if 
the  truth  shall  set  you  free,  you  shall  be  free  indeed.' 
He  is  free.  He  is  true." 

"  But  I  tremble  for  his  wife's  reception  of  this  con 
fession." 

"  I  do  not"  fervently  remarked  Lizzie.  "  Now,  when 
father  returns,  I  will  tell  you  both — and  keep  my  solemn 
word  to  dying  mother — where  I  was  gone  in  the  three 
weeks  after  I  left  you,  Joe,  at  Harrisburg." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  245 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE    PREPARER. 

IN  the  large  Northumberland  frame  house  the  three 
Priestleys  sat  with  closed  doors,  and  the  first  child  of  Joe 
and  Lizzie  was  in  a  crib  asleep. 

Word  had  been  given  not  to  admit  Mr.  Cooper  or  Mr. 
Antis,  the  English  mathematician,  or  anybody. 

Father  Priestley  had  been  indulged  with  his  two  games 
of  backgammon  and  three  of  whist,  and  the  lights  were 
put  out  to  let  the  moonlight  enter  the  library  and  not 
encourage  gnats  or  observations  on  human  conditions 
present  there. 

The  flow  of  broad  waters  could  be  heard,  and  the 
whippoorwill's  rapid  challenge.  Forms  of  island  and 
mountains  filled  the  window  frames.  It  was  real  life  in 
the  very  far  West,  and  yet  with  one's  dead  in  the  village 
graveyard,  and  one's  husband  or  wife  at  one's  elbow,  and 
other  posterity  to  be,  this  West  was  like  the  older  world, 
and  made  Doctor  Priestley  think  of  the  riddle  whether  any 
sounds  could  be  unless  ears  were  there  to  receive  them. 

"  Father,"  was  raised  the  sweet,  ardent  voice  of  'Lizzie 
Priestley,  "  I  was  almost  made  to  be  an  American,  and 
the  opportunity  your  reputation  gave  Joe  and  me  to  see 
the  principal  Americans  was  my  complete  compensation 
for  coming  to  the  United  States.  You,  father,  as  a  dis 
coverer  and  Royal  Society  man,  had  seen  public  leaders 
everywhere  ;  but  this  advantage  did  not  extend  to  your 
family.  Joe,  here,  was  a  bleacher  in  Manchester,  and  I 
was  of  the  Mill  Owners'  Society  at  Birmingham.  But 
when  we  came  with  you  to  this  republic  we  ail  were  con 
sidered  immediately  as  part  of  your  greatness,  and  taken 
up  by  the  statesmen  and  financiers,  and  their  families, 
also  ;  so  I  felt  a  great,  grateful  interest  in  a  land  which 
respected  services  above  class." 

"  Public  men  are  about  the  same  everywhere,"  said 
Priestley.  "  Here  are  no  professional  churchmen  in  the 
high  places  of  the  government,  and  the  result  is  a  more 
natural  society.  I  came  out  here  a  stickler  for  King, 
Lords,  and  Commons,  but  these  woods  have  made  me  a 
republican." 


246  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"And  I  have  found,  father,"  said  Lizzie,  "that  equal 
advantages  and  liberty  do  not  change  ambition  into  hon 
esty,  or  corruption  into  honor.  The  strife  of  parties  here 
is  just  as  fierce  as  in  England.  A  vile,  shrewd  politician, 
a  coarse,  vituperative  editor,  in  America,  seem  to  have 
enlarged  opportunities  to  do  cruelty  and  evil,  because  the 
multitude  is  so  scattered  and  new.  It  will  take  them  a 
long  time  to  acquire  the  experience  which  appreciates 
public  character,  and  holds  up  its  hands,  instead  of  mix 
ing  that  public  talent  with  private  scandals  upon  it,  and 
finally  judging  the  man  by  the  smallest  instead  of  the 
greatest  measure.  They  may  never  have  another  Ham 
ilton  ;  and  yet  see  this  measure  they  are  applying  to 
him.  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Monroe,  Colonel  Burr,  and 
Speaker  Muhlenberg,  of  Congress,  are  the  persons  who 
have  stooped  so  low.  They  have  only  injured  a  wife's 
and  children's  feelings,  at  last,  for  Hamilton  has  burst 
through  these  withes  of  both  Delilah  and  such  Philis 
tines,  like  the  Samson  he  is. " 

"  Oh  !  "  said  the  doctor,  "  they  will  get  over  that,  I 
suspect.  My  seven  years  at  Lord  Shelburne's  informed 
me  that  the  governing  class,  since  the  Norman  barons, 
has  been  licentious.  Political  popularity  and  tempera 
ment,  like  the  stage,  overturn  discretion.  My  children, 
the  state  of  mere  morals  may  surprise  anybody  but  a 
preacher  !  " 

"  Before  we  came  to  America,  and  on  the  packet  com 
ing  over,  I  read  and  questioned  about  their  public  men. 
All  authorities  said  that  Colonel  Hamilton  had  organized 
the  country.  Congress  had  come  to  him  for  reports,  and 
to  suggest  measures  ;  and  he  seemed  to  me  like  Alfred 
the  Great  to  England.  My  surprise  was  to  see  him — a 
mere  lad,  nothing  like  forty — unaffected,  unspoiled,  and 
almost  unpaid,  without  a  -patron,  pecuniary  independence, 
care,  or  envy.  He  was  not  like  Mr.  Jefferson,  always 
decrying  somebody  ;  nor  like  Colonel  Burr,  a  thick  flat 
terer,  esteeming  a  woman  to  be  a  dunce.  He  walked 
with  us  that  Sunday  to  Franklin's  grave,  and  entered  into 
our  family  life  like  an  English  friend.  My  husband  was 
favorable  to  his  views.  We  all  were  delighted  that  he 
gave  us  so  much  of  his  valuable  time.  But  I,  with 
probably  a  bit  of  idealism  in  me, — which  I  miss  among  the 
Priestleys,  I  must  say, — took  a  vast  interest  in  that  Hamil- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  247 

ton  from  the  moment  I  found  he  was  in  distress.  It 
was  the  Reynolds  woman  who  awoke  my  distrust  and 
opened^  my  eyes." 

'•  Set*  a  woman  to  catch  a  woman  !  "  exclaimed  Joe. 

"You  remember  the  way  we  met  her, — a  disconnected 
boarder  in  a  house,  who  made  free  in  our  society.  Next 
she  was  cornering  Colonel  Hamilton  in  the  sitting-room 
as  we  left  it.  When  we  returned  from  our  walk  she  was 
about  being  turned  out  of  the  boarding-house  for  arrears, 
and  Colonel  Hamilton  was  insolently  beset  by  her  hus 
band.  I  fell  to  wondering  why  a  needy  pair  like  that 
should  take  a  lodging-house  expensive  enough  for  us  and 
for  people  above  financial  suspicion.  Poverty  is  no 
crime,  but  to  keep  up  false  appearances  in  poverty  looks 
uncandid,  not  to  say  designing.  I  suspected  her,  I  will 
say  frankly,  to  be  a  very  subtle  and  well-equipped  speci 
men  of  the  adventuress,  and  of  this  I  find  confirmation 
in  the  appendix  to  Colonel  Hamilton's  confession,  where 
he  says  she  wanted  to  set  up  a  boarding-house  for  con 
gressmen,  and  that  Reynolds  demanded  the  money  of 
Hamilton  to  oblige  her,  and  that  otherwise  non-payment 
of  board  was  a  regular  subject  of  their  mutual  impor 
tunity  of  Mr.  Hamilton." 

"  Oh  !  it's  a  fine  opening  for  a  showy  widow,"  Joe 
observed,  between  smoke  blasts  of  his  pipe.  "  Some  of 
the  richest  Southern  planters  in  Congress  have  married 
their  landladies.  There  was  nobody  more  sightly  than 
Reynolds." 

"  She  was  the  finest  woman  I  have  ever  seen,  and  the 
best  disguised.  Her  mind  was  apparently  amiable,  equal, 
and  languid.  No  passions,  or  high  activities,  seemed 
to  inhabit  that  brunette  head,  and  she  hardly  required 
breeding,  as  Nature  had  cast  her  calm,  elegant,  and  imper 
turbable.  Dress  became  her  and  she  had  good  taste, 
which  I  see  is  natural  to  the  Americans.  They  dress  for 
the  street  more  than  the  English.  With  her  stature, 
which  was  commanding  anywhere  ;  with  her  laziness, 
which  made  it  easy  to  address  her;  with  her  fine,  long 
fingers  and  feet  and  rich  mould  of  arms  and  bust,  her 
even  hue  of  complexion,  and  something  dreamy  and 
oriental  about  her  luxuriance,  like  the  Sultana,  she  knew 
every  fine  point  she  possessed  with  the  calculation  of  a 
purely  cold-blooded,  if  indulgently  wilful,  being." 


248  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  How  do  you  know  this,  Liz  ? " 

"  She  told  me  so.  That  is,  she  would  make  such 
remarks  when  passing  a  blonde  lady  as:  'I  can't  see 
where  they  can  expect  to  cope  with  us  brunettes.'  She 
used  cosmetics,  French  washes  for  her  skin,  belladonna 
for  her  eyes  to  give  them  a  brightness  supernatural,  and 
I  have  seen  her,  here  in  Northumberland,  spend  hours 
matching  a  color  with  her  hair,  or  wrists,  or  neck,  as 
Lady  Montagu  describes  the  beauties  of  the  harem  doing 
'  all  day  long.  I  wondered  if  a  woman  like  that,  without 
the  means  of  gratifying  her  tastes,  could  be  virtuous 
without  industry.  The  next  thing  was  the  kindling  of 
our  poor  Hal  with  her  mingled  charms  and  tears." 

"  That  is  not  remembered  against  Harry  in  heaven," 
exclaimed  the  doctor.  "  God  expects  men  to  be  weak  ; 
men,  only,  expect  other  men  to  be  strong.  The  very  sons 
of  God,  says  Genesis,  took  them  wives  of  the  fair  among 
the  daughters  of  men." 

"  I  expect  you  to  be  against  me,  father  and  Joe,  for  all 
men  go  against  a  man  in  a  conflict  with  a  woman.  I  am 
greatly  in  need  of  your  encouragement,  too,  for  I  am  in 
great  oppression  and  fear  to-night.  Bear  with  me  till  I 
have  explained  my  eccentric  behavior,  and  then  judge  me 
as  a  woman,  also  !  " 

Her  husband  went  to  her  and  kissed  her  and  asked 
her  forgiveness,  and  dropped  into  her  lap,  unperceived 
by  her,  the  parcel  of  letters  his  dying  mother  had  given 
him. 

With  a  broken,  struggling  voice  the  little  lady  resumed. 
Her  one  sob  in  that  room  seemed  to  be  a  ripple  of  the 
wave  of  sympathy,  or  evil,  which  every  moral  offence 
sets  undulating,  till  the  innocent,  afar,  are  submerged  by 
the  rockings  of  the  great. 

"  My  brother's  love  for  any  woman  was  a  tender  sub 
ject  to  me  ;  for  I  entered  this  family  not  as  some  wives 
are  said  to  do — to  do  the  best  for  themselves  and  put 
their  husbands  against  the  other  sons  ;  here  I  was  of 
father's  meeting-house,  ourselves  sufferers  when  he  was 
burned  out  by  the  mob.  I  saw  my  husband  indifferent 
to  whether  this  woman  entered  this  family  or  not.  He, 
also,  was  taken  with  the  handsome  Reynolds,  while  I 
grew  firm  in  the  belief  that  it  was  this  same  woman  who 
was  the  unhealing  wound  in  Hamilton's  conscience." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  249 

"  Did  he  tell  you  so  ?  " 

"  I  saw  him,  the  day  we  ended  with  Reynolds  in  Phila 
delphia,  refuse  to  read  the  Bible  that  mother  tendered 
him.  He  was  full  of  a  marvellous  sensibility.  Why, 
thought  I,  should  a  man  of  temperament  and  genius  like 
that,  have  an  overflowed  heart  ?  The  sob  of  Hamilton 
haunted  me  as  mother  read  the  Bible.  You,  Joe,  had 
invited  him  to  our  family  friendship  ;  the  suggestion  was 
most  agreeable  to  me.  I  thought  that  such  a  friendship 
would  bear  fruit  in  some  public  ambition,  and,  perhaps, 
employment,  for  you,  which  I  knew  would  be  very  con 
soling  to  father  and  help  his  fame  in  England." 

A  low  groan  was  heard  from  Doctor  Priestley  in  the 
darkness  of  his  arm-chair. 

He  had  fled  from  dearly  appreciated  reputation  and 
had  found  none  in  America  to  replace  it.  Career  is  heav 
en's  chariot  let  down,  and,  when  its  wheels  go  out  of 
hearing,  dust  gathers  on  the  heart. 

"  The  evening  I  went  to  the  garden-party  at  Mr. — now 
Senator — Bingham's,  my  mind  was  ever  returning  to  the 
unfortunate  Hamilton,  in  spite  of  the  subtle  flattery  and 
vivacious  information  of  Senator  Burr,  and  I  could  not 
go  away  without  speaking  to  Hamilton  again.  When  I 
found  him  he  was  in  a  state  of  woe,  which  his  lips  ex 
pressed  in  a  monologue  from  one  of  the  poets,  and  the 
words  I  overheard  gave  me  a  hint  to  speak  right  openly. 
I  told  Hamilton  to  go  and  confess  to  his  wife  and  make 
his  peace  there  first,  and  then  he  would  have  a  fortress 
to  defy  the  sinister  part  of  all  the  world.  Before  he 
could  reply  Mrs.  Hamilton  entered  the  grounds,  and,  no 
doubt,  the  very  animated,  indeed,  excited,  appearance  of 
her  husband  and  myself  thus  privately  discoursing,  gave 
her  a  suspicion  that  we  might  be  coquetting.  We  were 
obliged  to  separate  without  explanation,  and  I  felt  that 
instead  of  helping  Hamilton  I  had  put  another  annoy 
ance  in  his  path." 

"  Why,  wife,  how  much  can  happen  to  a  little  witch 
like  thee  !  We  dull  Priestley  folk  never  see  what  thy 
imagination  finds  to  be  wonderful  in  everything.  It's  a 
good  story,  father  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Doctor  Priestley.  "  This  kindling  part  of 
Lizzie's  nature  is  called  Imagination.  It  appropriates  all 
causes  to  be  its  own,  feels  far  toward  God,  and  assembles 


250  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

mankind  for  rich  purposes.  I  feel,  as  daughter  speaks, 
a  great  new  wonder  in  my  mind — that  Man  is  always 
interesting,  especially  to  youth." 

"  Now,  dear  friends,"  the  little  wife  went  on,  hurrying 
like  one  pursued,  or  timed,  in  her  narrative,  "  all  this,  I 
expected,  had  forever  ended  as  an  episode  in  my  life 
when,  to  my  astonishment,  Mrs.  Reynolds  appeared  here 
in  Northumberland.  Then  the  idea  began  to  take  root 
in  me  that,  somehow,  I  had  a  purpose  of  Providence  to 
serve  through  this  woman.  Her  control  of  Harry  made 
me  burst  out.  We  quarrelled,  and  I  felt  clearer  than 
ever  her  resources  to  be  beautiful  and  even  touching. 
I  saw  that  a  supreme  opportunity  might  make  Mrs.  Rey 
nolds  the  most  dangerous  woman  of  the  age." 

"  Can  you  analyze  that  power,  my  daughter  ?  "  asked 
the  doctor. 

"  Perhaps  I  can't  explain  it,  father,  but  I  think  I  under 
stand  it.  The  sources  of  Mrs.  Reynolds'  childhood  seem 
to  have  been  genuine.  There  is  a  remembrance  of  piety 
and  of  her  mother's  love  about  her.  She  has  never  be 
come  a  strong  person  till  sin  has  made  her  so.  Languor 
and  self-love  took  her  along  like  a  sleeping  snake  upon 
a  summer's  day  floating  down  the  Susquehanna  upon  a 
swimming  log.  Suddenly  she  came  to  a  place  where 
pride,  ambition,  and  crime  aroused  her,  reenergized  her, 
and  made  her  an  active,  calculating,  hissing,  deadly  ser 
pent.  The  rattlesnakes  we  have  studied  in  these  hills 
rattle  and  coil  and  strike,  as  I  saw  that  woman  turn  on 
me  when  she  suspected  that  I  loved  Hamilton." 

"  This  love"  said  Joe,  "  be  the  mainspring,  I  think,  of 
women.  If  it  snap — whir-r-r  goes  the  watch,  and  her 
time  is  anything." 

"  She  misunderstood  me.  My  heart  being  my  hus 
band's  and  our  child's,  I  could  stand  on  the  high  ground 
of  truth  and  see  her  in  the  incitements  of  her  predatory 
love.  She  was  playing  with  Hamilton  like  the  serpent 
charming  the  bird,  and  I  disturbed  her.  She  thought  I 
wanted  him.  If  she  had  not  loved  him  so  fiercely,  I 
would  not  have  felt  him  to  be  in  danger.  This.  I  sus 
pect,  my  friends,  to  be  the  turning-point,  the  tragedy  of 
that  woman's  life." 

"  To  be  frank,  wife,  I  thought  she  was  a  bit  daft  on 
me." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  251 

"  Vain  Joe  !  She  rose  to  her  woman's  height  and 
courage  when  she  captured  Hamilton.  It  made  her  wise, 
but  it  was  the  wisdom  of  corruption  barely  moistened 
by  a  little  hyssop  of  childishness,  like  her  tenderness  to 
our  Harry." 

"  How  came  Colonel  Burr  to  follow  her  here  ?  " 

"It  seems  to  me  that  Colonel  Burr  had  also  possessed 
this  woman  by  some  unfair  means,  for  she  hated  him 
as  sincerely  as  she  affected  Hamilton.  He  felt  under 
some  incentive  to  compensate  her  for  whatever  injury  he 
had  done  her,  and  he  also  wished  her  to  keep  me  in  her 
supervision,  I  believe.  Joe,  before  we  left  Philadelphia 
Colonel  Burr  had  commenced  to  write  me  letters.  I 
turned  them  over  to  your  mother.  She  advised  me  to 
let  the  incident  rest  with  her,  as  it  might  unsettle  you." 

"  Wife,  his  letters  are  all  in  thy  lap." 

"  Did  you  read  them,  Joe  ?  " 

"  Only  one,  dear.  I  knew  that  he  was  trying  a  forlorn 
hope  in  laying  siege  to  thee." 

"  There  is  nothing  profound  about  Colonel  Burr," 
spoke  the  tired  wife.  "  His  self-esteem  was  always  ridicu 
lous  to  me.  After  he  came  here  I  addressed  a  single 
sentence  to  him  one  day,  as  we  were  going  out  to  your 
farm.  I  told  him  that  the  friendship  of  Colonel  Hamilton 
was  as  grateful  to  me  as  his  own  seductions  were  ridicu 
lous  and  cowardly.  Ever  since  that  time  he  has  hated 
me,  and  you,  and  all  this  family." 

"  Has  he  ?  "observed  Joe,  pulling  on  his  pipe  till  it  held 
red  fire.  "  He  must  be  short  of  clients  to  give  us  so 
much  valuable  consideration.  I  think,  wife,  that  we  will 
just  burn  all  those  letters  on  the  hearth  here,  and  they 
will  be  out  of  our  minds." 

As  the  fire  consuming  the  letters  of  Aaron  Burr  shone 
upon  Doctor  Priestley's  goodly  library  and  prints  and 
plaster  busts  of  other  philosophers,  throwing  the  room 
into  bright  relief,  a  bat  darted  in  the  open  window,  was 
singed  by  the  fire  like  its  spirit,  and  vanished  up  the 
chimney. 

"  Indeed,"  remarked  Joe,  "  that  was  like  the  casting 
out  of  a  devil  that  one  could  see.  Father,  you  must  not 
refute  that  miracle." 

"  Dear  children,"  spoke  the  doctor,  as  the  shadows  re 
sumed  their  sway,  when  the  girlish  little  woman  at  the 


252  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON, 

centre  of  the  room  had  left  a  pathetic  picture  upon  his 
mind,  "  your  mutual  confidence  and  Christian  freedom 
make  me  very  happy.  Joseph,  when  the  time  comes  to 
fold  thy  Lizzie's  eyes  in  the  last  sleep  of  mortality,  what 
a  comfort  will  this  scene  be  to  you,  son  !  " 

The  clear,  anxious  voice  of  the  wife  started  on  : 

"  That  day  we  went  to  the  farm.  I  had  a  place  secluded, 
though  not  intending  to  be  a  spy  upon  any  one.  I  hid 
myself  because  I  had  become  excited  and  nervous  by  the 
emeute  with  Colonel  Burr.  When  he  revealed  his  degraded 
instincts  and  unfolded  to  Mrs.  Reynolds  her  criminal 
attitude,  I  was  paralyzed  with  fear.  All  that  he  said  I 
could  not  comprehend,  but  it  was  plain  that  she  was 
guilty  of  some  felony  and  was  in  his  power.  The  proof 
of  this  was  in  the  instigation  she  gave  to  the  burly  soldier- 
man,  Clingman,  to  kill  her  husband  and  lift  this  felony 
away  from  her,  so  that  she  need  not  be  subject  to  lawyer 
Burr's  lust.  "When  I  could  master  my  speech  I  screamed 
the  one  word  '  Murderess  !  '  and  she  fell  to  the  earth 
as  if  it  had  been  the  voice  of  an  accusing  spirit  to  her 
soul." 

u  O  wife  !  how  thou  must  have  feared  her  when  going 
down  that  dark  river  upon  the  ark  !  " 

"  No.  I  was  growing,  Joe,  in  the  worldly  experience 
which  chiefly  makes  men  our  superiors.  I  felt  that  we 
were  again  to  cross  our  currents  with  Hamilton's  life. 
Deeper  than  ever  upon  my  being  lay  the  sense  of  a  divine 
appointment,  or  beneficent  fate,  to  pull  up  by  the  roots 
a  widely  filtrated  plot  or  secret,  which  would  have  but 
one  result — to  destroy  Secretary  Hamilton.  At  Harris- 
burg  I  believed  that  we  should  see  him  and  advance  an 
other  step  toward  implicating  the  guilty  and  redeeming 
the  repentant  one.  This  sublimity  of  feeling  made  me 
overlook,  or  scorn,  the  cheap  devices  of  Madame  Rey 
nolds  to  make  me  jealous." 

"  She  overacted  it,  father,  thee  can  see,"  observed  Joe, 
"  for  wife  remembered  a  trick  of  that  kind  upon  the  ark 
which  the  vixen  repeated  at  Carlisle,  and  so  betrayed 
herself. " 

"  Now,  Joe,"  the  wife  continued,  "  I  had  done  but  one 
indiscreet  thing,  and  that  was  to  write  Colonel  Hamilton 
a  letter  and  take  nobody  at  home  into  my  confidence." 

"  Ah  !  dear,  was  it  that  which  made  thee  threaten  me 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  253 

upon  the  ark — to  leave  me  forever  if  I  said  thou  wert  not 
ever  a  modest  woman  ?  " 

"  Yes,  husband  ;  I  wrote  to  Hamilton  the  narrative  of 
these  proceedings,  as  they  have  been  at  last  related  to 
you  and  father.  I  could  not  tell  them  to  mother,  since 
her  nervous  excitability,  ever  since  the  Birmingham  riots, 
was  such  that  this  dark  story  would  perhaps  frighten  her 
from  Northumberland." 

"  Right,  my  child,''  from  the  doctor.  "  In  the  little 
limit  of  the  rebellious  heart  lies  a  greater  riot  than  Bir 
mingham's.  It  was  kind  to  let  mother  rest,  and  she  is 
resting  sweetly  now  in  our  last  garden  of  paradise — yon 
restful  country  graveyard." 

"  Dear  Joe,  1  did  not  tell  you,  because  I  thought  it 
might  destroy  your  confidence  in  Mr.  Hamilton,  and  my 
good  ends  would  all  have  been  disappointed  if  I  had 
not  retained  my  husband's  interest  in  my  only  American 
friend." 

"  Splendid,  splendid  !  "  was  Joe's  response.  "  What 
made  thee  feel  such  remorse  for  a  kind  deed  like  that  ?  " 

The  wife's  ardor  was  checked.     There  was  a  long  pause. 

"  My  fear,"  she  answered,  finally,  "  was  that  Colonel 
Hamilton  might  misconstrue  my  confidence  and  think 
the  boldness  of  my  friendship  was  a  woman's  infatua 
tion  for  him.  If  that  had  been  his  misinterpretation,  it 
would  have  cut  me  to  the  ground.  It  would  have  been 
worse  than  an  insult  ;  it  would  have  been  a  stab  at 
Mercy." 

"  How  delicate  are  honest  sensibilities  !  "  remarked  Joe. 
"  Now,  some  would  think  that  Hamilton,  just  out  of  one 
intrigue,  might  catch  at  another  ;  but  I  think  not.  One 
bite  of  the  apple  was  enough  for  Adam.  Ho  !  ho  !  I'm 
glad  Reynolds  didn't  love  me.  She  was  a  very  fetching 
sort  of  Juno.  Did  Hamilton  appreciate  your  sacrifice  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes  !  He  made  me  religious.  He  was  pursued, 
if  you  remember,  by  Mrs.  Reynolds,  and  found  in  the 
appearance  of  tendering  me  his  love.  At  that  moment, 
Joe,  he  was  saying,  in  all  the  nobility  of  repentance  : 
•  My  hearth  shall  be  swept,  my  heart  shall  be  purified  ;  I 
shall  strive  through  a  nature  victorious  to  see  God.'  " 

"  Press  on,  brave  heart  !  "  from  Doctor  Priestley,  his 
voice  in  broken  waves  of  buoyant  piety. 

"  O  father — Joe,  there  is  indeed  more  joy  in  heaven 


254  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

over  one  sinner  that  repenteth  than  over  ninety  and  nine 
that  have  gone  not  astray  !  Hamilton  called  my  prof 
fered  help  by  the  name  of  *  high  friendship,'  and  com 
pared  it  to  the  proud  and  pure  affection  of  his  wife's 
virgin  sisters  for  him.  I  was  lifted  above  all  self-consid 
erations.  My  nature  seemed  to  rise  on  eagle's  wings. 
You,  Joe,  refused  to  accept  Mrs.  Reynolds'  slander  of  my 
motives,  or  to  quarrel  with  Mr.  Hamilton.  I  was  seized 
with  an  ecstasy  to  end  the  whole  intrigue,  and  declared 
lo  you  my  resolution  to  go  to  Philadelphia." 

"  For  what,  my  darling  ?  " 

"  To  see  Colonel  Hamilton's  wife." 

"  Why,  you  were  taking  the  pastoral  office,  child," 
exclaimed  the  doctor.  "  Many  is  the  family  dispute  I 
have  had  to  settle  in  my  congregations,  and  more  espe 
cially  between  man  and  wife.  Churches  are  merely 
microcosms  seeded  by  Adam  and  Eve.  If  people  would 
remember  that,  they  would  cease  to  expect  that  a  merely 
defensive  institution,  like  a  church — a  confession  of  weak 
ness  in  itself,  an  association  for  virtue  where  individual 
ism  was  too  frail — could  be  free  from  scandals.  In  some 
cases  I  have  thought  that  certain  kinds  of  paroxysmal 
piety  were  rank  physiology." 

"  This  case  of  wife's  was  heroic  friendship,  pa,"  articu 
lated  Joe,  whose  face  came  out  periodically  as  his  pipe- 
bowl  glowed.  "  I  am  curious  to  see  what  she  could  do 
with  Mrs.  Hamilton.  Didst  thee  know  her,  Liz  ?  " 

"  No.  If  I  had,  probably  some  presumption  of  her 
character,  some  commonplace  particular,  or  antagonism, 
might  have  taken  down  the  pure  idealism  of  «my  intent. 
I  did  not  see  the  wife  of  Hamilton  at  all  ;  it  was  woman 
—man's  friend,  created  for  his  solace  and  family  relief— 
that  appeared  tome.  I  felt  such  zeal  under  the  accumu 
lation  of  incidents  and  my  raw  experience  that  I  started 
without  a  plan,  upon  an'  instinct  such  as  might  cause  a 
dark  star  to  shine  on  a  dangerous  place  by  the  benevo 
lence  of  the  light  committed  to  it." 

"  Bethlehem  /  "  in  a  trembling  voice,  like  a  vocal  glim 
mer,  from  Pastor  Priestley. 

The  wife's  voice  seemed  to  catch  in  the  draught  which 
blew  into  it  from  the  lungs. 

"  Oh,  Joe  !  "  it  quavered  at  length,  "  I  am  frightened 
to-night.  Come  put  your  arms  around  me,  love." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  255 

"  What  scares  thee,  darling  ?  "  Joe  pleaded  to  know, 
as  he  kissed  her  ruggedly. 

"  I  feel  again  the  fear  I  felt  that  day  you  put  me  in  the 
stage  at  Harrisburg.  The  wheels  had  not  turned  three 
times  when  my  soul  became  full  of  gloom  and  accusa 
tion.  I  had  left  you — left  you  in  that  dreadful  female's 
hands,  my  conduct  open  to  any  interpretation,  and  my 
reasons,  all  of  a  sudden,  fell  away  and  left  me  without 
any  meaning  to  myself.  The  time  of  trial  I  learned  that 
day,  God  knows  !  Everything  would  have  been  chaos  to 
me  but  for  a  little  passage  of  Scripture  that  went  round 
with  the  wheels  day  and  night,  and  ever  repeated  itself 
to  my  ears  and  brain  busily.  Father,  dost  thou  know 
it?" 

"  Is  it  this,  child  ?  '  Provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver, 
nor  brass  in  your  purses,  nor  scrip  for  your  journey  ; 
neither  two  coats,  neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves.'  " 

"  That's  it,  that's  it,  father  !  *  And  when  ye  come 
into  an  house  salute  it,  and  if  the  house  be  worthy,  let 
your  peace  come  upon  it.'  " 

"'But  if  it  be  not  worthy,'"  from  Doctor  Priestley, 
"  '  let  your  peace  return  to  you.'  ' 

"  Oh  !  friends,"  from  the  wife,  "  if  they  would  banish 
God,  as  some  want  to  do,  and  leave  us  only  that  old,  ten 
der  book,  we  might  still  get  along  !  If  I  slept  at  all 
going  to  Philadelphia  I  do  not  know  it.  I  went  to  our 
former  lodgings  and  sent  to  Mrs.  Hamilton's  house.  She 
had  gone  to  New  York,  perhaps  to  Saratoga,  her  father's 
plantation." 

"  Did  thy  heart  sink  then,  wife  ?  " 

"  No  ;  it  had  a  great,  selfish  rejoicing.  The  excuse  had 
come  to  lay  down  my  mission  and  return  to  you,  husband, 
and  ask  your  forgiveness." 

"  I'm  glad  you  did  not  do  that.  We  should  not  then 
have  had  thy  pretty  tale  of  travel,  though,  wife,  I  did 
miss  thee  doleful-like.  Thou  didst  go  to  New  York,  I 
think  ?  " 

"  Joe,  the  day  after  I  reached  Philadelphia  was  Satur 
day,  and  I  was  bruised  by  staging  and  went  all  day  to  my 
bed.  The  next  day  was  Sabbath,  and  I  desired  to  hear 
music,  I  know  not  why.  Not  -speech,  nor  counsel,  nor 
even  prayer  was  my  nature's  request,  but  soothing  sounds. 
They  told  me  there  was  a  little  Roman  Catholic  church 


256  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

near  Hamilton's  house,  kept  up  by  the  sufferance  of  Qua 
kers  toward  Catholics,  since  they  were  both  oppressed 
in  England.  There  I  slipped  in  and  sat  upon  a  bench. 
An  organ  rolled  across  my  spirit,  and  little  choristers, 
with  voices  not  yet  changed,  and  foreign  women  trained 
in  music,  piped  to  the  organ's  swell.  I  seemed  to  lie  on 
the  floor  of  the  great  ocean  and  hear  its  vibrations,  and 
it  was  a  bath  of  rest.  By  music  came  calm  thinking  and 
a  more  religious  and  humble  mind.  The  feeling  of  the 
crusader  was  gone,  and  in  its  place  had  come  to  me  the 
feeling  of  Martha,  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  that  only  the 
Lord  could  make  my  friend  arise  again  if  I  entreated 
it." 

"And  now  I  know,"  said  Doctor  Priestley,  "  that 
Lizzie  persevered.  That  was  the  feeling  that  should  wear 
out  ecstasy  and  also  depression." 

"  I  now  took  the  stage  for  New  York.  It  was  dusty, 
but  the  country  was  pretty  by  Bristol  and  Trent's  town, 
and  the  stony  places  and  the  red  clay  in  New  Jersey 
ji~>~:  softened  by  the  mutual  courtesy  of  travellers.  The 
Americans  are  careful  of  women  as  they  journey,  and  I 
had  no  cause  of  complaint  till,  finding  in  New  York  that 
Mrs.  Hamilton  was  at  Albany,  I  obtained  a  seat  in  the 
Albany  stage.  As  I  had  booked  it,  a  gentleman  came  in 
and  booked  beside  me.  It  was  Colonel  Burr." 

"  That  fellow  is  a  leech  !  "  exclaimed  Joe.  u  Ask  him 
to  sit  on  the  door-step  and  he'll  come  and  live  with  you. 
You  didn't  go  with  him?" 

"  Yes,  Joe.  I  reflected  that  Colonel  Hamilton  was  far 
in  the  West,  and  that  my  only  perfect  opportunity  to  see 
his  wife  alone  was  at  that  time.  Repulsive  as  Mr.  Burr 
was  to  me,  I  knew  that  he  could  not  harm  me,  and  that 
to  release  my  seat — for  the  stage  was  to  be  quite  full — 
might  give  him  the  conceit  that  I  feared  him.  So  I  had 
that  smooth  wretch's  company  all  the  way  to  Albany.  I 
suppressed  my  anger  and  treated  him  as  became  us  all. 
He  was  a  great  man  in  the  stage  and  on  the  way,  and 
pointed  out  all  the  Revolutionary  places — Richmond  Hill, 
near  the  city,  where  Washington  had  taken  him  on  the 
staff,  and  he  seemed  to  triumph  that  it  was  now  his.  He 
showed  us  where  Andre  was  captured,  and,  as  we  crossed 
the  Highlands,  also  where  Arnold  sold  his  country.  The 
road  was  the  old  Dutch  and  English  highway,  some  dis- 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  257 

tance  back  from  the  Hudson,  and  sprinkled  with  Dutch 
villages,  at  which  we  slept  all  night  in  one  called  Peekskill. 
The  third  day  we  passed  over  the  noble  Livingston's 
manor,  having  slept  at  Rhinebeck,  and  we  threaded  Dutch 
Claverack  and  Kinderhook  and  came  to  Albany  that 
night." 

"  What  did  thee  think  of  New  York,  wife,  as  compared 
to  Pennsylvania  ? " 

"  It  is  a  more  aristocratic  State.  Here  are  no  control 
ling  families  through  the  inland  ;  there  the  Dutch, — Hol 
landers,  of  the  burgher  love  of  marriage  alliances, — settled 
the  river  levels  and  grew  rich,  expelled  the  rich  English 
office-holding  class  after  the  war  and  annexed  their  man 
ors.  But  the  influence  of  New  England  bears  more 
directly  upon  New  York  than  on  Pennsylvania,  and  is 
coming  to  control  it.  That  and  the  deep  natural  canal 
of  the  Hudson,  which  breaks  into  the  West,  as  Colonel 
Burr  explained,  and  which  is  filling  with  Yankee  towns, 
are  the  chief  influences  of  New  York,  together  with  the 
city  at  the  Hudson's  foot,  which  he  said  was  the  new 
Constantinople.  O  Joe  !  such  mountains  !  The  High 
lands  are  sublime,  but  the  Catskills  are  so  serene.  My 
soul  was  lifted  up.  Even  my  errand,  amidst  such  scen 
eries,  seemed  not  unnatural." 

"  And  Colonel  Burr  ?  " 

"  He  reminded  me  of  the  devil  on  the  mountain-top, 
tempting  and  foiled.  All  day  I  gave  him  free  discourse. 
At  night  I  turned  upon  him  with  frigid  contempt  and 
went  to  the  women  of  the  hotels,  who  were  all  kind 
people,  to  lodge  me  in  their  protection.  I  believe  he 
knew  something  of  my  purpose.  His  very  appearance 
there  was  unaccountable  to  me,  but  he  explained  that 
politics  and  law  had  suddenly  summoned  him  back 
through  the  Lehigh  settlements  to  New  York  City,  and 
professed  still  to  be  going  to  Western  New  York.  The 
evening  of  the  first  day,  as  we  approached  the  night's 
stop,  he  said  insidiously  :  '  Your  hero,  Colonel  Hamil 
ton,  has  taken  up  with  Mrs.  Reynolds  again.  She  is  oc 
cupying  his  rooms  at  Carlisle.'  I  said  to  him  :  '  Sir,  this 
is  information  for  the  stablemen.  A  woman  has  no  part 
in  it.'  He  was  angry,  and  added  :  '  I  could  tell  you  of 
your  husband's  frailty,  too.  He  took  Madame  Reynolds 
from  Harrisburg  to  Carlisle,  and  got  boozily  drunk  there.' 

17 


258  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

I  answered  :  '  See  that  you  do  not ,  follow  his  example 
to-night,  Colonel.  But  good  wine  is  an  innocent  mis 
tress.'  But,  Joe,  my  pillow  was  wet  with  my  tears  that 
night." 

"  For  me  ?" 

"  No.  I  never  could  think  you  treacherous  tome;  you 
had  trusted  me  so  far  away,  Joe.  But  if  Hamilton  had 
fallen  when  I  was  upon  the  errand  of  his  salvation,  I 
had  taken  up  a  cross  in  vain.  That  night  my  dreams 
were  so  painless  that  they  gave  me  confidence  for  the  next 
day.  When  we  reached  Albany,  when  we  came  within  its 
influence,  yet  afar,  I  made  no  reply  whatever  to  Colonel 
Burr,  and  he  lost  his  moral  courage  to  pursue  me  when 
we  came  to  the  hotel,  and  sought  the  company  of  his 
politicians.  I  merely  told  him  that  I  had  come  north 
for  my  health." 

"  How  did  you  communicate  with  Mrs.  Hamilton?" 

"  It  seems  that  the  smart  Mr.  Burr  had  barely  reached 
Albany  when  he  called  at  General  Schuyler's  and  told 
the  family  that  I,  a  great  favorite  of  Hamilton,  was  on 
my  way  north  to  the  Springs,  in  pursuit  of  the  waters 
and  health,  and  suggested  that  they  take  me  along.  So 
General  Schuyler  came  to  see  me,  would  hear  no  refusal, 
and  said  I  must,  the  very  next  day,  start  for  his  planta 
tion  up  the  Hudson.  Mrs.  Hamilton  called  and  added 
her  most  cordial  entreaty.  They  had  been  packing  to 
go  when  I  arrived,  and  no  time  was  afforded  me  for  an 
explanation  in  Albany  of  any  other  business  which  had 
brought  me  there.  I  was  in  great  mortification,  but  so 
it  was.  So  I  rested  one  day  at  Albany,  and  next  day 
made  the  journey  to  Fish  Creek." 

The  narrator's  peace-bringing  voice  became  low,  and  at 
last  it  stopped. 

"  What  ails  thee,  wife  ?  You  have  talked  too  long,  my 
darling." 

"  Yes,  dear,  I  need  thee,  Joe.  Send  father  to  bed  ! 
Come  back,  Joe,  very  soon  !  " 

When  Doctor  Priestley  arose  next  morning  there  was 
found  among  his  books  and  manuscripts  a  new  work, 
that  will  be  ever  new,  when  philosophies  and  religions 
and  governments  have  succeeded  each  other,  till  tradition 
is  a  rope  of  sand — a  new  babe  lay  there,  and,  like  its 
mother's  Jason  spirit,  it  was  a  girl. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  259 

"  God  be  thanked  !  "  exclaimed  Doctor  Priestley,  mar 
velling  at  the  child,  "  that  in  one  little  woman  there  can 
be  place  for  all  this  love  and  manly  friendship,  too  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MOULDING    BULLETS. 

THE  necessity  of  correcting  his  proofs  and  confirming 
his  evidence  took  Hamilton  to  Philadelphia  ;  but  that 
master  of  small  arts,  Colonel  Burr,  bribed  an  advance 
copy  of  the  pamphlet  from  the  printer  and  showed  it  to 
Jefferson  and  Monroe.  The  latter,  whose  wife  was  from 
New  York,  felt  sheepish  enough  and  ever  after  aban 
doned  authorship  ;  but  Jefferson,  whose  jealousy  of  writ 
ten  history  was  anticipatory,  and  the  more  torturing  from 
his  sense  of  crookedness,  had  a  fit  of  the  blues  for  a 
month. 

"  He  has  spoiled,"  reflected  that  subtle  one.  "  my  most 
convincing  Ana.  But  my  daughter's  return  of  those 
letters  omits  me  from  his  vengeance." 

It  was  soon  after  this  time  that  Mr.  Jefferson  gave  a 
leading  idea  to  Colonel  Burr,  whom  he  distrusted,  with 
all  the  New  York  politicians. 

"Colonel  Burr,"  said  Jefferson,  "I  often  wonder  there 
is  not  some  good  man  in  New  York  to  play  the  Mac 
intosh  with  this  alien  game-cock,  Mr.  Hamilton  ?" 

"Macintosh  ?" 

"  Certainly  you  recall  Button  Gwinnett,  who  signed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  on  the  part  of  Georgia. 
He  was  much  like  Mr.  Hamilton,  a  planter  from  the 
islands,  a  British  fellow,  and  he  came  to  America  about  the 
time  Hamilton  did.  Like  Hamilton,  he  was  forward, 
pugnacious,  hoggish  of  all  the  honors,  civil  and  military, 
inclined  toward  English  precedents,  and  slow  to  break 
for  independence." 

"  And  Macintosh  was  obliged  to  kill  him,  I  believe  ? " 
observed  Colonel  Burr,  pale  but  intent. 

"  General  Macintosh  was  like  you,  a  purely  military 
man,  of  an  established  Georgia  family,  but  Gwinnett  had 
made  the  most  of  a  persuasive  and  graceful  address,  and 


260  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

of  the  favor  of  the  Council.  In  one  year  Gwinnett  rose 
from  obscurity  to  be  President  of  Georgia.  Not  content 
with  that,  he  wanted  the  Brigadier-Generalship  of  the 
forces,  which  belonged  to  Macintosh.  When  Hamilton 
has  brought  on  a  war  with  the  French,  see  if  he  does  not 
deprive  you  of  a  commission  in  like  manner  !  " 

**  Well  ?  "  attentively  from  Colonel  Burr. 

"  There  was  a  duel,"  continued  Jefferson,  after  a  pause. 
"  Macintosh  was  the  better  shot.  He  had  the  distance 
measured  close — to  twelve  feet — and  received  a  slight 
wound  himself  ;  but  he  gave  General  Gwinnett  a  wound 
of  which  he  died  in  twelve  days." 

Mr.  Jefferson  looked  behind  him  as  he  spoke. 

Colonel  Burr  went  away  with  a  new  idea.  He  per 
ceived  that  Mr.  Jefferson's  fertile  suggestiveness  was  a 
very  positive  influence,  even  over  those  he  distrusted. 

"  Any  monkey,"  observed  Washington,  "  can  commit 
Hamilton's  offence  ;  but  it  took  a  man  of  the  highest 
moral  and  personal  courage  to  publish  it  ;  and,  in  my 
opinion,  his  understanding  was  equal  to  his  courage,  for 
they  will  never  dare  to  assault  his  public  character  again. 
A  devilish  good  friend,  too,"  added  Washington,  with  a 
rifle  eye  on  Mr.  Lear,  u  for  if  he  had  slunk  from  this 
confession  it  would  have  seemed  that  he  used  the  funds, 
and  so  I  would  have  been  declared  a  fool  for  not  finding 
it  out.  Of  course,"  the  general  remarked,  in  a  sentence 
which  became  inarticulate  in  one  of  his  very  occasional 
spasms  of  laughter,  "  I  couldn't  be  up  of  nights  looking 
into  his  eccentricities  !  " 

The  effect  of  Hamilton's  pamphlet  on  the  general  pub 
lic  was  most  gratifying  to  his  public  sensibilities. 

The  Federal  party,  with  the  exception  of  John  Adams, 
regarded  him  as  a  truer  hero  than  ever.  He  had  wiped 
their  shield  clean  with  his  heart,  and  cleared  their  last 
fears  away,  which  the  late  circumstantial  documentary 
exuvice  of  Monroe,  had  alarmed. 

Only  the  few  great-minded  men  could  see  the  height 
of  this  act  of  sacrifice,  leaving  mere  moralities  in  their 
flatness  and  setting  Suffering  high  by  Truth  in  the  holy 
pleiades  of  the  Forgiven. 

But  Mr.  Adams  was  skipping  about  like  a  Pharisee 
grasshopper,  asking  everybody  if  such  immorality  was 
ever  heard  of. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  261 

"  Well,"  said  the  stiffish  Secretary  Pickering,  when  Mr. 
Adams  was  picking  at  Hamilton  for  the  third  time  in  one 
day,  "  I  take  it  that  you  sing  the  psalms  of  David.  How 
do  you  like  'em,  considering  who  made  'em — David,  the 
friend  of  Joab  and  ruler  over  Uriah?"  The  secretary 
sang  : 

"  '  Keep  me  from  snares  and  wicked  gins, 

They  lay  for  me  withal, 
And  net  the  tempters  in  their  sins, 
While  I  but  half  way  fall  ! '  " 

"  Do  you  mean  me,  sir?"  exclaimed  the  President, 
hotly. 

"  You  ?  Great  God,  no  !  It  takes  human  nature  to 
fall^-Adam  and  Eve  and  such. " 

"  Dear  me,  Mr.  Adams,"  remarked  the  President's  wife, 
when  he  came  to  her  for  the  ninth  time  with  the  great 
story  of  Hamilton's  folly,  "  what  can  you  have  on  your 
conscience  that  Mrs.  Reynolds'  afflictions  trouble  you  so  ? " 

The  error  of  Hamilton  admitted  him  into  the  sym 
pathies  of  thousands  of  anti-Federal  men  who  had  re 
garded  him  as  a  precise  and  morally  insured  being. 
No  similar  attack  upon  a  public  man  of  distinction  wras 
made  for  more  than  thirty  years  after,  when  the  office 
holders  of  Monroe  attacked  the  marriage  purity  of  the 
hero  of  New  Orleans. 

Mrs.  Hamilton  was  looking  for  a  site  for  a  country 
home  whilst  Hamilton  was  sacrificing  his  pride  to  his 
honor;  and  therefore,  as  she  rode  among  the  rocks  eight 
to  ten  miles  north  of  the  city,  her  husband  still  had  to 
brood  upon  her  reception  of  the  Confession. 

He  was  in  more  cheerful  spirits  than  before  he  had  so 
abased  himself,  but  the  disclosure  he  had  been  obliged 
to  make  left  a  deep  sense  of  injury  upon  his  nature. 

The  identity  of  Mrs.  Clingman,  as  she  was  now  called, 
with  the  Mrs.  Reynolds  of  Hamilton's  amour,  was  hardly 
known  at  all  in  New  York. 

The  publication  of  Hamilton's  arraignment  of  Maria 
Reynolds  seemed  not  to  disturb  that  lady. 

When  Hamilton  next  met  her  on  the  street,  instead  of 
indignation  in  her  eyes,  she  looked  at  him  with  benignity 
and  a  never-failing  dignity  also,  which  had  first  attracted 
him. 

In  this  creature   the  stock   was   thoroughbred  if  the 


262  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

flower  was  wanton.  Hamilton  felt  that  she  liked  him  and 
disliked  Burr. 

His  wife  being  away  on  a  visit  in  Westchester  County, 
Hamilton  was  one  day  driving  a  hired  chaise  to  a  subur 
ban  property  in  litigation,  when  he  met  Mrs.  Reynolds 
on  horseback  coming  out  of  Richmond  Hill  with  Theo- 
dosia  Burr  and  young  Alston,  her  lover. 

It  was  in  keeping  with  Mr.  Burr's  philosophic  contempt 
of  fitness  that  he  let  his  daughter  and  his  mistress  become 
friendly. 

Mrs.  Reynolds  spoke  to  the  young  people,  and  they 
rode  on.  She  raised  her  hand  to  Hamilton,  and  the  horse 
stopped. 

"  Hamilton,"  said  the  lady,  "  I  was  compelled  to  hear 
all  your  cruel  pamphlet  written  upon  me.  Your  enemy  up 
there  " — pointing  to  Richmond  Hill — "  made  me  hear  it." 

"  I  gave  you  fair  warning,  madame.  You  persecuted 
me  more.  I  had  either  to  say  that  I  stripped  my  coun 
try  or  that  you  and  your  confederates  stripped  me.  I 
lament  the  necessity,  but  you  are  now,  as  you  have  de 
scribed,  the  puppet  of  my  oldest  enemy,  and  I  hold  you, 
also,  to  be  such." 

"  Do  not,  Hamilton  !  I  only  heard  in  that  defence  of 
you  the  omissions  of  severe  things  you  might  have  said 
against  me.  How  much  more  you  could  have  said  !  Be 
tween  the  lines  I  thought  I  felt  you  pitied  me — that, 
perhaps,  you  loved  me  still." 

li  Maria,  I  must  go  on.  You  can  attract  me  no  more. 
I  did  feel  for  you  when  I  made  that  statement,  so  cruel 
to  my  own.  But  you  feel  for  none." 

"  Always  for  you.  I  was  the  covetous  one  and  led 
you  from  your  duty.  My  wretched  circumstances  made 
me  consent  to  levy  subsistence  from  you.  I  regard  you 
as  my  victim,  but  you  have  nobly  escaped  me,  and  I  am 
glad  you  printed  the  truth.  Yet,  Hamilton,  the  short 
amour  I  began  with  you  was  the  golden  page  of  my  life, 
while  the  time  I  spend  with  the  wretch  who  now  in 
dulges  me  in  plenty  is  chains  and  slavery." 

"  Why  don't  you  leave  him  ?  " 

"  Because  I  want  to  destroy  him.  I  said  to  him  when 
for  the  second  time  he  took  a  forced  advantage  of  me  : 
*  If  I  am  yours,  you  are  mine.'  ' 

"  You  are  drawing  heavily  on  Colonel  Burr's  resources, 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  263 

I  hear,"  said  Hamilton,  catching  a  sight  of  a  diamond 
clasp  at  the  lady's  throat. 

"  Yes;  while  he  has  one  dollar  left,  I  want  it.  This  is 
my  horse.  I  have  got  something  in  bank.  Did  you  ever 
think  poor  Maria  could  be  so  revengeful  ? " 

"  Tell  me,  before  you  go,  why  you  hate  Colonel  Burr. 
Is  he  indifferent  to  you  ?  " 

"  No,  he  has  become  enamoured  of  me.  I  tell  him 
that  I  love  Hamilton,  and  he  loses  his  appetite.  I  hate 
Burr  because  he  wooed  me  like  a  highway  robber.  It 
was  that  day  you  called  at  Mr.  Clingman's  garret.  At 
your  approach  we  retired  and  hid  ourselves.  The  unscru 
pulous  villain  insulted  me,  and  afterward  robbed  me  of 
the  letters  which  have  compelled  you  to  publish  this 
statement.  I  hope  your  wife  appreciates  you,  for,  in 
deed,  I  desire  you,  Hamilton,  to  be  happy." 

He  felt  a  sickness  at  his  heart,  but  rejoined  : 

"  I  desire  you  also,  Maria,  to  be  happy,  but  it  must  be 
through  humility  and  repentance." 

"  I  will  repent,"  the  fine  woman  spoke  with  languid  de 
cision,  ''when  you  do  me  the  favor  to  kill  Aaron  Burr." 

She  rode  away  and  Hamilton  pursued  his  journey. 

The  idea  Mrs.  Reynolds  had  broached  seemed  to  have 
possession  of  her  mind,  for  that  night  she  said  to  her 
husband  as  the  surly  Clingman  finished  his  evening  meal: 

"  Jake,  do  you  like  Aaron  Burr  ?  " 

"  You  ask  me  that  ?  "  Clingman  retorted.  "  Did  you 
ever  know  me  to  like  the  outside  man  ?  J.  C.  could  sit 
on  A.  B.'s  grave  and  carve  a  picter  of  hell  on  his  tomb 
stone.  Damn  him  !  " 

"  Jake,  I  have  seen  Burr  practising  a  good  deal  of  late 
with  pistols.  It  is  almost  a  daily  thing  at  Richmond 
Hill.  Sometimes  he  sails  a  skiff  to  Weehawken,  and  has 
had  me  over  there  to  see  him  practise.  I  notice  that  he 
makes  the  target  every  time  about  the  height  of  Colonel 
Hamilton.  When  he  lands  a  ball  in  the  body  he  says, 
'Macintosh.'" 

"Sence  this  French  politics  has  got  so  hot,"  says  Jake, 
"  they're  duellin'  over  yer  at  Weehawken  'most  every  day." 

"  Burr  has  Southerners  around  him  constantly.  I  hear 
them  talk  of  having  killed  their  man  with  a  zest  for 
murder  that  is  barbarous.  Jake,  do  you  think  Hamilton 
could  kill  Burr?" 


264  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

• 

"  Ef  he  could  git  a  ball  into  him,  I  reckon  so,  Mari, 
onless  A.  B.  is  a  chile  of  the  Ole  Nick,  which  he  do 
seem  to  be  sometimes  to  your'n  truly.  But  Ham's  the 
best  soldier.  He  fired  at  me  up  yer  in  Pennsylwany  in 
the  dark  and  shot  me  through  the  arm.  Ef  he  could  do 
that  in  the  dark,  he  ought  to  be  a  pizen  shot  in  the  day 
light." 

"  Jake,"  said  the  woman,  quickly,  "  I  want  him  to  kill 
Burr.  I'll  see  that  Burr  don't  forget  the  idea  of  a  duel." 

When  Mrs.  Reynolds  passed  away,  Mr.  Clingman  gave 
a  shrug. 

"  Do  it,  missy,"  mused  Clingman.  "  Ham  couldn't 
afford  to  fire  at  Burr.  I  don't  believe  he  would  try  to 
kill  him.  But  Burr  is  a  cool  shot  and  has  a  deadly  heart. 
I  hate  them  both,  but  I've  got  a  stake  in  Burr,  and  as  for 
Hamilton,  durn  him  !  my  wife  loves  him.  To  the  bone- 
yard  with  his'n  truly,  A.  Hamilton  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

REST. 

LIZZIE  PRIESTLEY  resumed  her  story,  when  she  came 
forth  again,  in  the  emblazoned  autumn. 

They  were  going  to  the  town  of  Sunbury,  right  op 
posite  Northumberland,  where  Mr.  Cooper  was  in  great 
expectations  of  getting  an  office  ;  and  there,  in  a  coun 
try  editor's  bower,  Mr.  Cooper,  like  a  large  pug  dog, 
sat  wistfully  while  Doctor  Priestley  wrote  this  singular 
recommendation  to  President  Adams  : 

"  The  office  of  Agent  for  American  Claims  has  been  declined  by 
Mr.  Hall,  of  Sunbury.  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  se>ve  Mr.  Cooper  by 
recommending  him.  Both  he  and  myself  fall  unde?  the  description  of 
Democrats,  who  are  studiously  represented  as  enemies  to  what  is  called 
government.  .  .  .  Were  the  accusations  true,  the  appointment  would 
be  truly  such  a  mark  of  superiority  to  popular  prejudices  as  I  should 
expect  from  you"  etc.,  etc. 

Upon  which  Mr.  Cooper  endorsed  : 

"/  see  no  impropriety  in  the  present  application  to  be  appointed 
Agent  of  American  Claims.  If  I  am  nominated,  etc.,  I  shall  en 
deavor  to  merit  the  character  the  Doctor  has  given  me,  and  your  esteem." 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  265 

Doctor  Priestley  was  in  a  sweat.  Mr.  Cooper  was  in  a 
pleasing  trance  or  daze.  Both  were  as  flatteringly  sure 
of  the  appointment  as  lottery  ticket  holders  are  of,  at  least, 
the  second-class  prize. 

"  When  Tummas  gets  the  office,"  observed  Mrs.  Cooper, 
"  I  suppose  I  shall  keep  my  carriage  at  last  like  my  Lord 
Mayor's  lady." 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  real  author  of  this  application, 
various  delusive  promises  he  had  made  to  Mr.  Cooper  of 
giving  him  the  presidency  of  some  Southern  revolution 
ary  college  being  unfulfilled,  and  Cooper's  circumstances 
had  become  too  desperate  to  be  further  put  off ;  so  Jef 
ferson  had  devised  this  trap  to  antagonize  his  friends 
and  the  Federalists  yet  the  more.  Inevitably  Mr.  Coo 
per  would  resent  a  non-appointment,  and,  perhaps,  Doc 
tor  Priestley  would  do  the  same  and  write  a  political 
"  screamer." 

"  I  had  come  to  my  arrival  at  Saratoga,"  said  Lizzie 
Priestley,  whose  babe  was  folded  upon  her  lap  in  sleep. 
"At  Albany  I  perceived  the  standing  of  this  Schuyler 
family  in  their  ancient  finical  city  house,  with  Dutch 
smithery  in  its  gables,  and  their  later  mansion  below  the 
town,  with  dormers  and  roof  balusters  and  a  park.  In 
the  times  of  the  Stuarts  they  were  mayors  of  Albany  and 
viceroys  over  those  Indians  nearby,  who  ruled  everything 
south  of  Canada  to  Louisiana.  O  Joe  !  such  legends  as 
the  girls  told  !  There  was  Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer,  wife  of  the 
noble  young  patroon,  who  had  actually  fought  the  Indi 
ans  in  her  father's  house.  From  what  I  could  hear,  they 
all  married  lands  except  Mrs.  Hamilton,  and  she  married 
character.  I  felt  that  it  was  this  character  I  came  gra 
tuitously  to  traduce,  while  they  were  all  so  kind  to  me. 
*  How  shall  I  ever  broach  the  subject  ? '  I  said  to  my 
self." 

"What  is  this  Saratoga?"  asked  Doctor  Priestley. 
"  They  tell  me  that  it  is  fountains  full  of  fixed  air — that 
little  part  of  air,  a  thousandth  of  the  atmosphere,  which 
yet  makes  the  stalks  of  all  the  harvests  and  the  forests. 
Doctor  Black  found  it  before  I  did,  on  the  breath,  in  the 
bre\v,  and  in  fire." 

"  We  went  first,  father,  to  General  Schuyler's  planta 
tion  by  a  roaring  creek  and  the  flowing  Hudson.  It  was 
a  frame  house  with  a  long  piazza,  at  the  centre  of  a  wild 


266  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

forest,  and  all  the  neighborhood  was  full  of  graves  of  the 
dead  in  the  battles  where  Burgoyne  was  surrounded  and 
surrendered.  After  resting  there,  we  proceeded  on  horse 
back  through  the  pine  forests  to  a  solitary  lake  of  large 
extent,  and  near  its  marshes,  at  the  termination  of  some 
hard  foot-hills,  a  swampy  ravine  contained  these  healing 
springs.  Nothing  was  there  but  a  few  squatters'  huts 
for  entertainment,  and  Schuyler's  rude  bowery.  Yet 
there,  in  the  heart  of  the  natural  woods,  where  the  deer 
still  ventured  to  lick  the  salt  waters,  and  the  fir-trees 
moaned  upon  the  sand-cliffs  above  the  spas,  like  old 
Indian  spirits,  we  passed  a  week  of  physic  and  pleasure 
that  was  like  paradise.  The  young  men  and  beaux 
went  into  the  woods  for  game  ;  we  women  fished  the 
creeks  and  drew  trout,  salmon,  and  bass.  Our  appetites 
were  made  raging  by  the  salt  alkaline  waters  ;  we  drank 
neither  beer  nor  wine.  The  days  were  warmish  but  ex 
hilarating,  and  the  sleep  at  night  was  like  that  of  the 
just." 

"  Thy  hosts  were  not  put  out  by  thy  coming  ? "  from 
Joe. 

"  Indeed,  no.  Society  like  that  I  never  knew  or  read 
of — so  superior,  so  natural,  also.  The  mother  was  a  per 
fect  housewife,  stoutish,  short,  with  the  sweetest  manners, 
and  such  a  union  of  gentleness  and  energy  as  kept  up  an 
agreeable  surprise.  The  old  general  is  called  an  aristo 
crat,  but  I  could  plainly  see  why — it  was  his  unconscious 
honesty,  the  source  of  his  power  over  the  Indians.  With 
dishonesty  he  had  no  patience,  but  he  could  forgive  his 
family  for  anything  that  was  candidly  disobedient.  There 
was  Madame  Angelica,  who  had  run  away  ;  and  her  sister 
Cornelia  was  beset  by  two  young  men, — the  irregular 
young  Washington  Morton  and  a  French  engineer  named 
Mark  Brunei.  Since  Hamilton  entered  the  family  Gen 
eral  Schuyler  has  been  enamoured  of  ability,  and  he  con 
sidered  young  Brunei  a  man  of  genius  who  would  connect 
all  the  waters  of  New  York  by  canals  ;  so  he  informed 
Cornelia  that  she  should  not  marry  Morton,  but  should 
have  Brunei.  The  girl  sat  at  her  father's  gouty  feet  and 
told  him  flatly  that  she  should  disobey  him.  '  An  Amer 
ican  is  good  enough  for  me,'  she  said.  And  it  was  not 
long  afterward,  at  Albany,  that  Morton  threw  a  rope- 
ladder  to  her  window,  which  she  climbed  down  upon, 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  267 

and  they  stepped  off  and  were  married  and  came  boldly 
home.  The  general  was  terribly  angry.  '  Disobedient 
,  girl  !  '.he  cried,  '  I  forgive  you  because  you  did  not  tell 
.me  a  lie  ! ' 

<4  There  I  learned  to  know  the  Federalists  ;  they  are 
the  people  of  great  business  ideas,  to  expand  America  in 
every  noble  way  and  raise  up  a  mighty  loyalty  here  to 
the  State." 

"Well,  well,  Lizzie,  lass  !  "  remarked  Mr.  Cooper,  "as 
wfr  are  to  be  an  office-holder  under  the  victorious  Fed 
eralists,  I  suppose  we  will  not  dispute  thee.  Does  Gen 
eral  Schuyler  regard  Mr.  Hamilton  as  his  child,  also?" 

"  But  your  errand,  your  mission,  wife  ?  "  spoke  Joe. 

"  O  husband  !  how  little  the  life  of  woman  qualifies  her 
for  affairs !  Many  a  time  there  I  had  resolved  to  come 
back  and  never  tell  my  real  errand.  Indeed,  the  last 
day  but  one  had  come  before  I  was  to  leave,  by  my  own 
announcement,  when  I  mustered  the  courage  to  say  to 
Mrs.  Hamilton :  '  Dear,  cannot  you  and  I  go  all  alone  to 
morrow  and  have  some  fishing  ?'  She  had  a  little  babe, 
but  said  that  she  would  steal  away.  '  That  is  to  be  the 
time,  or  never,'  I  reflected. 

"  Then,  friends,  I  thought  over  every  device  to  open 
the  awful  subject  of  my  coming.  The  more  I  planned 
the  more  nervous  I  grew.  At  last  I  thought  of  old  Gen 
eral  Schuyler's  honest,  blunt  way  of  doing  everything, 
and  it  flashed  upon  me  that  to  be  honest  was  better  than 
to  be  adroit.  From  that  moment  cool  English  courage 
regained  possession  of  me.  I  heard  a  voice  saying:  '  Your 
motive,  your  friend,  are  too  high  for  any  artifice  ;  if  you 
become  too  subtle  she  may  suspect  you  ;  if  you  are  not 
frank  enough  she  may  not  understand  your  statement.' 

"  We  came  to  the  creek  and  took  a  skiff  there  which 
barely  held  us  both  and  floated  safely.  As  we  descended 
the  stream,  the  outlet  of  the  lake,  the  fish  bit  so  fast  we 
could  not  talk.  At  last  we  came  to  a  place  where  we  tied 
the  boat  to  a  tree,  and  under  its  branches  took  the  shade 
of  midday;  Mrs.  Hamilton  was  in  that  end  which  stretched 
out  into  the  water,  and  I  was  between  her  and  the  shore. 

"  A  sudden  energy  seized  me  and  a  feeling  of  seniority, 
though  I  was  much  the  younger. 

"  'Elizabeth,'  said  I,  'your  kindness  makes  me  call 
you  so,  I  am  going  to  say  something  very  surprising  to 


268  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

you.  Will  you  promise  me  to  receive  it  without  moving 
or  exclaiming  ?  This  little  boat  might  upset  and  drown 
us  both.' 

u<You  call  me  Elizabeth,'  replied  she,  'and  it  is  so 
affectionate  that  I  know  you  mean  to  be  kind.' 

"  As  she  spoke  the  sweetness  of  her  face  was  touching. 
Her  beauty  was  of  that  kind  which  grows  by  contact 
with  it,  till  the  little  body  seems  to  enlarge  by  the  acute- 
ness  and  vigor  of  the  spirit.  I  thought  as  I  looked  at 
her  that  the  unison  of  their  spirits  had  made  Elizabeth 
resemble  her  husband.  Her  nose  had  become  like  his, 
the  strongest  of  her  features,  as  if  expanded  at  his  nos 
trils.  She  had  dark  eyebrows,  and  the  eyes,  which  really 
were  gray,  took  the  dark  tint  of  their  lashes  till  they 
seemed  gleaming  black,  and  as  these  eyes  turned  upon 
me  expectantly,  their  humor  and  free  spirit  suddenly 
enlarged  to  a  brightness  like  the  frightened  fawn.  Under 
neath  her  pride  of  descent,  fruitfulness,  and  station,  came 
the  great  apprehension,  too  soon,  of  imperilled  love.  It 
was  her  heart  that  made  her  character. 

"  Slowly  the  clear  paleness  of  her  skin  became  very 
white.  The  waves  of  her  dark  brown  hair  seemed  to 
deepen  in  color  as  the  blood  was  arrested  in  the  fore 
head.  The  lips  of  her  small  rosy  mouth,  generally  com 
pressed  with  an  excess  of  will,  seemed  to  tremble.  Her 
hat  of  straw  oppressed  her  and  she  pushed  it  off  with  a 
motion  of  her  delicate,  thin  arm. 

"I  felt  my  own  vigor  coming  up,  and  yet  it  was  the 
courage  of  a  solemn  fear.  I  knew  it  to  be  my  own  face 
wrhich  had  frightened  hers. 

" '  Is  Alexander  dead  ? '  she  asked,  and  sank  back  in 
the  prow  of  the  skiff,  which  just  contained  her,  leaning 
upon  her  long-mittened  hand. 

"  *  No,  my  dear  -Elizabeth,  but  he  is  in  danger,  and  of 
only  one  person  in  this  world.  It  is  yourself  !  ' 

"  Indignation  replaced  her  fear,  but  the  two  emotions 
played  wonders  in  her  rare,  natural  pallor  of  skin. 

" '  In  danger  of  me  ?  You  think  I  exact  too  much 
from  him, — that  all  his  time  and  his  whole  heart  belong 
to  the  public  ?  Perhaps  that  is  so,  but  was  it  friendly  to 
tell  me  ? ' 

"  '  No,'  said  I,  with  my  face  set,  I  suppose,  and  my 
voice  as  unnaturally  raised  in  the  trying  moment,  '  you 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  269 

have  not  understood  me  !  I  will  tell  the  whole  danger  in 
another  sentence.  Your  husband  is  beset  by  another 
woman,  and  she  is  a  wicked  one,  and  you,  who  could  for 
give  him  in  one  moment,  will  not  do  so,  and  deliver  him, 
unless  God  cries  into  your  heart,  "as  we  forgive  them  that 
trespass  against  us  !  ' ' 

"  As  I  spoke  I  saw  her  arm  yield,  her  head  fall,  and  I 
knew  that  she  had  swooned. 

"  I  turned  to  the  side  of  the  boat  to  draw  it  in  to  the 
bank,  when  I  found  my  head  swimming,  too. 

"The  long  journey,  the  sudden  relief,  the  whole  scene 
so  vital  to  that  wife,  so  irrelevant  to  me  ;  the  ardor  of  my 
mind  too  quickly  discharged,  the  yielding  of  my  nerves 
from  their  tension,  the  disappointment  to  myself  at  the 
moment,  in  the  propriety  and  importance  of  the  revela 
tion,  had  overcome  me.  My  blood  did  not  know  its 
course  in  the  variety  of  emotions  it  was  called  to  supply, 
and  stopping  at  my  heart,  left  all  my  head  sick  and 
blank. 

"  When  I  came  around  and  could  see,  the  boat  was 
hauled  in  shore,  and  Mrs.  Hamilton  was  pouring  water 
upon  my  forehead.  The  next  thing  I  was  crying  and  say 
ing,  again  and  again  :  <  I  have  been  very  wrong  to  cross 
your  happiness.  It  was  an  illusion  of  being  able  to  do 
some  good.' 

"  She  was  silent,  kind,  yet  constrained.  I  did  not  ven 
ture  to  study  her  face  again  until  we  were  seated  in  the 
cart  and  going  toward  Schuylerville.  Then  I  saw  her 
foot  tapping  the  floor,  and,  looking  up,  I  found  her  ex 
pression  to  be  anger. 

"  '  God  be  praised  ! '  said  I.  *  You  are  only  woman- 
mad.' 

<l  *  I  am  going  straight  back  to  Philadelphia  with  you,' 
she  uttered,  'and  inquire  into  this  business.'  Then 
turning  to  me,  in  a  revulsion  of  noble  feeling,  she  ex 
claimed  :  '  Did  you  really  come  all  this  way  to  tell  me 
this  tale  ?  I  know  your  meaning  was  kind.  Can  you 
explain  it  exactly  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,'  I  replied  ;  '  it  was  friendship — nothing  else.' 
Friendshin     sfenerallv  conceals  a    man's    domestic 


sins.' 


" '  Yes,  an  ordinary  man's  ;  but  this  man  became  my 
public  idol.     I  was  allowed  by  the  Almighty,  it  seemed 


270  MRS..   REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

to  me,  to  look  in  upon  the  collusions  and  conspiracy  of 
his  enemies,  and  I  found  that  his  greatest  wound  was 
to  be  at  home.  He  told  me  so.  I  left  my  husband  and 
my  child  to  anticipate  those  enemies  and  have  you  know 
that,  as  when  he  first  loved  you,  and  your  heart  and  soul 
could  bless  him  by  consenting,  so  again  you  can  bring 
him  perfect  calm  and  happiness  by  your  complete  for 
giveness.  Let  him  face  his  real  enemies  bravely,  with 
his  wife  on  his  side  ! ' 

"  She  was  moved,  and  after  a  time  she  said  :  '  Why 
could  Alexander  overlook  such  a  pure  regard  as  yours 
for  the  ignoble  invitations  of  a  leman  ? ' 

"  '  O  madame  !  '  said  I,  '  do  you  suspect  me  of  loving 
him  ? ' 

"  '  Indeed,  I  do  not.  The  time  you  have  spent  here 
convinced  me  of  your  conscientious  nature.  As  we  go 
along  I  shall  know  the  particulars  of  this  sad,  sad  story. 
Let  me  tell  you,  as  a  dear,  dear  secret,  that  some  other 
person  warned  me,  before  I  parted  with  my  husband,  of 
his  intimacy  with  a  certain  Mrs.  Reynolds.' 

"  When  we  reached  Schuyler's  plantation,  to  which  her 
child  and  my  effects  had  been  forwarded,  she  showed  me 
this  other  communication. 

"  It  was  a  silhouette  of  Mrs.  Reynolds.  Beneath  it 
was  written  the  words  :  '  Alexander  s  Roxana  :  Maria 
Reynolds. ' 

"  '  That  is  the  woman,'  said  I  ;  'and  I  know  the  writ 
ing,  too.' 

" '  Will  you  tell  me  whose  you  think  it  is  ? ' 

"'  Colonel  Burr's.' 

"  '  Are  you  so  familiar  with  his  writing  ? ' 

" '  I  am.  Ever  since  the  night  he  took  me  to  Bingham's 
party  he  has  written  me  insidious  letters,  which  have 
been  turned  over  to  my  husband's  mother.' 

"  *  Why  not  to  your  husband  ?' 

"  *  Because  Colonel  Hamilton  told  me  that  Mr.  Burr 
was  one  of  the  most  selfish  and  dangerous  men  in  the 
country,  and  I  feared  for  my  Joe's  safety.' 

"  From  that  moment  Mrs.  Hamilton  became  under  a 
different  influence.  The  name  of  Aaron  Burr  awoke  her 
public  and  family  nature  —Burr,  the  opponent  of  her 
father  and  her  husband.  She  began  to  see  the  greater 
conspiracy  than  woman's,  that  environed  the  public  life. 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  271 

She  turned  to  me  as  we  reached  her  room  at  Schuyler- 
ville  and  kissed  me  and  said  : 

"  '  Lizzie — our  parents  named  us  the  same — I  received 
that  anonymous  and  cruel  stab  the  night  I  confronted 
you  and  Alexander  at  the  garden-party  in  Philadelphia. 
It  awoke  my  jealousy,  and  I  left  my  home  with  a  woman's 
but  not  a  lady's  impulse,  to  see  what  my  husband  was 
about.  I  found  him  in  close  and  interesting  talk  with  a 
woman.' 

"  <  Myself,  dear  Eliza  ! ' 

"'After  that  a  communication  was  received  by  me,' 
said  Mrs.  Hamilton,  'saying  that  my  husband  was  to  have 
his  mistress  with  him  following  the  Western  army.  I  be 
came  exasperated  and  parted  from  him  in  anger.  It  was 
in  the  same  handwriting  you  have  identified.' 

"  *  O  my  friend  !  that  jealousy  you  expressed  was  the 
cause  of  your  husband's  confidence  with  me,  the  same 
which  brought  me  here  so  far.  It  frightened  him.  Will 
you  now  assure  him  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,'  she  said,  'the  instant  I  see  him.  Colonel  Burr 
shall  mine  and  tunnel  for  naught  in  the  Schuyler's  house 
hold.' 

"  She  was  full  of  dainty  fire,  like  Sappho's  lamp,  but 
I  blewr  it  out.  '  Elizabeth,'  said  I,  '  the  hardest  is  to 
come.  You  cannot  forgive  your  husband  till  the  time 
arrives  wrhen  his  enemies  surround  him.  This  day  you 
have  his  heart  better  than  ever  before.  Your  sacrifice 
shall  equal  mine — to  postpone  the  years  of  forgiveness, 
and  let  truth  find  its  way  from  the  deep  well  to  the  holy 
light  of  your  reconciliation.' 

"  She  took  up  her  babe  and  kissed  it  and  burst  into 
tears. 

"  My  work  had  been  blessed. 

"  And  so,  friends,  we  came  together  to  Philadelphia, 
and  I  rehearsed  every  point  of  that  deep,  devilish  plot, 
which  commenced  the  day  Hamilton  met  Mrs.  Reynolds 
at  our  lodgings.  We  did  not  know -whether  Burr  did  not 
start  Mrs.  Reynolds  in  pursuit  of  Hamilton  originally  ; 
that  view  Mrs.  Hamilton  took,  perhaps  in  a  wife's  self- 
esteem,  Joe,  that  it  required  very  great  combinations  to 
seduce  her  husband." 

"But,  wife,"  speaks  Joe,  "did  it  appear  that  there  was 
a  real  necessity  for  your  intervention  ?  " 


272  MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON. 

"  Yes.  Elizabeth  said  to  me  :  '  Dear  friend,  you  have 
given  me  an  illness,  but  if  this  revelation  had  first  been 
made  to  me  by  Alexander,  it  would  have  been  my  death. 
By  your  nursing  I  am  convalescent.  I  shall  go  to  my 
husband  to  be  his  friend  as  well  as  his  wife.'  'But you 
will  not  tell  him  his  fault?'  'No,'  she  answered,  'it 
would  hurt  his  pride.  It  would  also  hurt  mine.  Let  time 
do  its  work.  Yet,  Lizzie,  do  men  know  that  their  infi 
delity  is  as  dreadful,  as  dishonorable,  to  us,  as  if  they 
found  their  own  hearth-stones  shattered  ? '  '  No,'  said 
I,  'that  they  cannot  know7,  not  being  like  ourselves.' 

"  Joe,  I  came  toward  you  with  this  victory  on  my  heart, 
and  you  met  me  with  the  contrition  of  a  castaway.  I 
turned  to  God — to  the  Spirit  which  allows  injustice  awhile 
to  prevail  that  it  may  die  of  its  disappointment — and  from 
that  unseen  Source,  like  father's  oxygen,  which  exhilarates 
poor  mice  and  rabbits,  I  inhaled  the  faith  in  love  and  the 
worldly  courage  to  overthrow  Mrs.  Reynolds  a  second 
time,  and  with  her  Colonel  Burr.  It  was  necessary  to  the 
selfishness  of  my  victory  that  I  should  tell  that  woman 
before  my  husband's  face,  in  the  fearlessness  of  a  faith 
ful  wife,  that  I  loved  Colonel  Hamilton.  Do  you  know 
what  I  meant  ?  " 

"  I  do,  my  children,"  interposed  old  Doctor  Priestley, 
rising,  with  his  imperfect  dental  accentuation  and  hands 
outstretched.  "  God  bless  you  both  in  your  renewed 
and  ennobled  happiness  !  She  meant  that  all  the  prom 
ises  of  God  are  good,  to  women  as  to  men.  Our  dear 
daughter  meant  that  '  greater  love  hath  no  woman,  also, 
than  this  :  that  she  lay  down  her  life  for  her  friend.' 
He  also  said,  '  Ye  are  my  friends  if  ye  keep  my  com 
mandments.'  ' 

"  Ye  do,  ducky,  do  ye  not  ? "  cried  little  Mrs.  Cooper, 
embracing  her  pugnacious  husband.  "  Ye  do  keep  to 
your  dear  wife,  I  know,  that  one  hawful  commandment 
the  men  do  break  !  " 

Hamilton  had  at  last  to  face  his  wife. 

He  braced  himself  up  for  a  cheerful  martyrdom;  for 
he  knew  his  wife's  exacting  spirit  and  aristocratic  pride. 

Nothing  less  than  a  separation  for  an  indefinite  period 
he  expected,  but  he  dreaded  the  parting  scene. 

And  yet  in  the  immediate  years  of  hard  study  and 


MRS.    REYNOLDS    AND    HAMILTON.  273 

application  at  the  law  for  his  children's  sake,  how  price 
less,  he  felt,  would  this  woman's  society  be! 

"  If  it  would  please  God,"  thought  Hamilton,  "  to 
stand  me  before  my  worst  enemy  and  let  him  fire  into  my 
breast,  I  would  take  it  in  exchange  for  this  meeting  with 
my  injured  wife." 

He  had  come  from  Philadelphia,  and  he  entered  her 
room.  There  lay  the  book  he  had  written  beside  her  bed. 

He  stood  without  speaking. 

"  Come,  husband,  to  your  bed  !  " 

"  Not  till  you  come  and  fetch  me  there." 

She  arose  swiftly  and  put  her  arms  around  him  and 
kissed  him  hard. 

"  You  are  still  ignorant,  alas  !  "  said  Hamilton,  all  in 
tears. 

**  Oh,  no  !  I  have  known  everything  for  these  three 
years,  and  did  I  ever  refuse  your  chamber  to  you  in  all 
that  time  ?  The  words  you  speak  I  have  waited  for  till 
this  moment.  There  is  no  condonation  so  avowed  and  so 
long  as  mine." 

"  Known  this  and  been  silent,  Eliza  ?  Who  could  have 
told  you  ?  Was  it  Martha  Jefferson  ?  " 

"  No,  no;  it  was  Mrs.  Priestley,  our  dearest  friend  on 
earth.  Three  years  ago  and  more  she  came  to  Albany 
and  prepared  me  for  all  this.  I  never  was  as  happy  in  my 
life  as  now — no,  not  when  we  were  married." 

Hamilton  remembered. 

The  scene  on  the  river  bank  at  Harrisburg,  the  return 
of  young  Priestley's  wife  to  the  same  river  from  a  long 
absence,  and  her  recent  letter  adjuring  him  to  make  a 
public  declaration,  Connected  themselves  like  steps  of  a 
golden  ladder  reaching  from  the  earth  to  heaven. 

"  I  thought  I  had  many  enemies,"  spoke  Hamilton 
tremulously,  standing  in  a  daze  of  contrition  and  joy.  "  I 
was  mistaken  all  the  time.  Everybody  in  the  world  has 
been  my  friend." 


APPENDIX. 

* 

THE  scale  upon  \vhich  this  romance  was  first  executed  allowed  the 
author  to  follow  all  his  personages  to  their  respective  fates.  Publish 
ers  and  public,  however,  now  exclaim  against  long  novels — such  as 
are  all  the  English  classics — and  the  author  with  sorrow  releases  his 
personages,  who  had  been  two  years  his  nearest  friends,  and  tells  the 
sequel  of  their  story  to  the  reader  in  a  few  paragraphs. 

Alexander  Hamilton  became  the  ranking  general  of  the  United 
States  Army  by  Washington's  demand,  who  also  rejected  Burr.  The 
latter,  oppressed  by  debt  and  licentiousness,  stopped  his  career  at 
the  Vice- Presidency,  and,  instead  of  being  revenged  upon  Jefferson, 
who  cruelly  pursued  him,  he  challenged  and  killed  Hamilton. 

The  story  represents  Mrs.  Reynolds  as  a  portion  of  Burr's 
Nemesis,  and  she,  his  mistress,  aids  to  bring  on  the  duel,  believing 
that  Hamilton  will  kill  Burr  ;  her  husband,  Clingman,  rows  Burr  to 
the  duelling  ground.  Hamilton  and  the  Priestleys,  to  redeem  Mrs. 
Reynolds,  have  made  over  to  her  Hal  Priestley's  farm.  In  her  hor 
ror  at  Hamilton's  fate  she  has  Clingman  row  her  to  the  duelling 
place,  and,  losing  her  mind  there,  drowns  herself  and  drags  Cling 
man  down. 

Theodosia  Burr  marries  as  her  father  directs,  becomes  involved  in 
his  ruin,  and  perishes  with  her  child  by  an  unknown  fate  at  sea. 

Nelly  Custis  marries  Larry  Lewis,  and  lives  a  long,  happy,  Chris 
tian  life. 

Jefferson  lives  to  be  President,  survives  to  become  poor,  like  Mon 
roe,  sacrifices  the  liberty  of  all  his  slaves,  and  sees  Hamilton's  star 
reascend  in  the  younger  Adams'  administration.  To  be  spiteful, 
Jefferson  leaves  his  so-called  "  Anas"  to  be  printed  after  his  death, 
one  of  the  results  of  which  is  the  present  composition. 

Doctor  Priestley  died  a  few  months  before  Hamilton,  in  the  same 
year,  1804,  and  his  son  and  daughter  in-law  returned  to  England, 
where  Lizzie  Priestley  passed  away  young. 

Through  the  agency  of  Jefferson  upon  Priestley's  younger  shadow, 
Thomas  Cooper,  the  doctor  wrote  a  pamphlet  against  John  Adams, 
which  may  have  assisted  to  turn  Pennsylvania  against  the  Federalists 
and  determine  the  party  revolution.  The  Alien  and  Sedition  Bills 
were  passed,  it  is  thought,  with  reference  to  Priestley  and  Cooper, 
as  well  as  Callender  and  other  foreigners  ;  and.  in  return,  Jefferson, 
by  the  aid  of  Henry  Toulmin,  who  had  become  Secretary  of  State 
for  Kentucky,  forced  through  the  legislature  of  that  State  the  "  Reso 
lutions  of  '98,"  which  he  drafted  while  Vice-President.  These  con 
tained  the  term  and  the  injunction  to  "  nullify  "  a  Federal  law. 

Tobias  Lear,  as  the  custodian  of  Washington's  papers  and  corre 
spondence,  was  given  office  by  the  Jeffersonians.  He  cut  his  throat 
for  mysterious  reasons. 


276  APPENDIX. 

Mr.  Thomas  Cooper,  the  stormy  petrel  of  that  day,  was  rewarded 
with  a  judgeship,  like  Toulmin,  but  was  removed  by  the  legislature 
of  Pennsylvania  for  browbeating  and  tyranny.  He  drifted  to 
South  Carolina,  and  brought  that  State  into  the  Nullification  war  of 
1830,  after  which  the  legislature  there  Burned  him  down  at  a  great 
old  age.  While  in  prison  lor  a  libel  on  in  Adams,  his  good  wife 
died. 

To  obtain  two  presidential  terms  and  antagonize  Hamilton,  John 
Adams  perverted  and  destroyed  the  Federal  party.  He  was  prob 
ably  the  last  of  Jefferson's  dupes  and  gossips  of  record  ;  but  he 
appointed  John  Marshall  Chief-Justice,  who  long  continued  to  inter 
pret  the  laws  in  the  spirit  of  Jay,  Hamilton,  and  Washington. 

Doctor  Priestley,  Hal,  and  Mrs.  Priestley  are  buried  at  North 
umberland,  Pennsylvania.  The  great-grandson  of  the  Priestleys, 
Richardson,  became  a  noble  architect,  and  made  the  court-house  of 
Pittsburgh  and  the  capitol  at  Albany. 

The  Reynolds  affair  became  the  uncontemplated  staple  of  this 
romance  while  the  author  was  devising  some  way  to  portray  Doctor 
Priestley  in  America — the  banished  Duke  of  Oxygen. 


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